Endless Roads
by formerlyLbee
Summary: Kim has returned, but with secrets her friends will critisize her for. What happens when she suffers the pain and Tommy is more than willing to help? will old feelings resurface? the chase is on, on their Endless Road. CHAPTER 19 NOW UP!
1. Chapter 1 Flying Home

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Endless Roads

Chapter One - Flying Home

Five years it had been since she last saw a glimpse of her hometown, and five years it had been since she last saw her friends. It was all the girl could think about as she sat on in the plane flying from Florida to Angel Grove, California. She stared outside the window, as the sunlight beamed upon her face, watching the peaceful scenery formed by clouds that surrounded the plane. She sat there silently, thinking about what on earth she was doing. She was flying home to see old friends that she hadn't seen for five years. She hadn't really kept in touch that often and it made her think if they would actually be happy about her return. Especially for a certain someone who she believed wouldn't be happy at all of her presence. It wasn't until the pilot announced that they'd be landing soon, that she started feeling nervous. Her palms started to sweat and her knees started to shake. She looked outside the window again, looking down at the ground. All she could see were little lines and squares as the plane approached the airport. Within minutes she would be on that ground, greeting the ones that she spent her whole childhood with. A little smiled formed on her face, as old memories of her making constant visits to the mall with friends and walking down the school hallways with big, thick text books in her arms, entered her mind. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts when a little beep from the intercom alarmed her.

__

"This is the captain speaking. I would like to please ask everybody to remain in their seats and buckle up their seat belts, as we are soon approaching the landing terminal. Thank-you."

Her heart started beating faster, as she hurried to put her seat belt on. This time, her hands were the ones that shook. She took deep, long breaths to help her calm down. Her anxiety was overwhelming as she continued sitting there. She looked out the window again, and noticed the ground looking closer than before. The plane was going to land, she was going to get out of the plane, and she was going to meet all of her friends again. She imagined this day in her head for years, but she never imagined that she would ever react this way. It must have been the most nerve-wrecking thing. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to focus herself. _"This is no big deal. You'll do fine." _She thought to herself, as the plane inched more towards the landing area. She sat there patiently, fiddling with her thumbs. _"Everything is going to be fine. They are going to be so happy when they see me." _Suddenly she felt the plane shake from the impact from the landing. Her eyes widened. Her heart beating faster. _"I'm here. I'm actually here." _She thought to herself. _"Kim, you're actually home."_

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Jason had been standing at the arrival's gate patiently waiting for his "Little Sis" to come out. He hadn't seen her in over a year, after leaving Florida to move back to Angel Grove. Six years before, he left Angel Grove to travel through Europe. It was a great opportunity he just couldn't refuse, so he had made the decision to leave. The experience he had in Europe was indescribable. He had seen everything there that Europe had to offer. He went to Paris, studied French, and took pictures of Eiffel Tower. He went skiing in the Alps and went mountain rock climbing. He spent a few months in London, went to Scotland, and even wore a kilt. It wasn't until a year later that he heard that Kimberly had left to pursue a gymnastic career in Florida. The two kept in touch with letters and phoned each other from time to time. But after three adventurous years, Jason decided to go down to Florida and spend time with Kim. Jason had never intended in spending a long time in Florida, but there was just one thing there that kept him: Lacey Chastenburg. Lacey was a close friend of Kimberly's that she had made through gymnastics. They had become the greatest of friends that the two decided to buy a place together. Kim let Jason stay with them, during the time he was there. The chemistry between him and Lacey grew, and lead to the blooming of a wonderful relationship. Unfortunately Jason knew that he had to leave sooner or later, so he broke up with Lacey on good terms, and left to Angel Grove.  
Now it was a year and a half later since he had left, and it was Kim's time to return home. He stood there waiting with the others: Aisha, Billy, Adam, Kat, Rocky Tommy and Tanya. Out of all of them, Tommy was probably the most nervous. To the others, their friend was returning home, but to Tommy his ex-girlfriend, his first love, his inspiration of life was returning home. He stood behind the rest so he wouldn't look obvious to the others. His knees started to tremble and his muscles started to tense up. Thoughts entered his mind on how he would react to seeing Kim again. It had been five long years without a word from her after the letter she had sent to him, saying she had met someone else. Tommy wouldn't deny that it was heart breaking to hear the news. Never did anything in his life feel important to him than Kim was. Tommy was a foster child, constantly moving around the country into different homes. It wasn't until he moved to Angel Grove and met Kimberly, that he actually started to appreciate life. And that meant the world to him. Soon after, the two grew to be really close friends and eventually he and Kim started an incredible relationship, which unfortunately ended the wrong way. After the letter, he was devastated and couldn't really feel good about himself. A couple of months before Kim had left for Florida, a new girl named Katherine moved to Angel Grove from Australia. She became a really good friend with the group and a really good friend of Tommy's. When Tommy was depressed from his break-up, Katherine or Kat, she would be called, helped him through it. She planned vacations that her and the group could go together for, to get Tommy's mind off Kim. And eventually his mind did, and feelings started to form between him and Kat. Soon enough, Tommy and Kat started a relationship and had been involved to this present day.   
Kat walked up to the nervous wreck standing behind her. She linked her arm to his and rested her head on his shoulder. Kim was coming back to town and she didn't know whether to feel happy or upset. An old friend that she hadn't seen for years would be coming home; but then again she couldn't ignore the fact that her boyfriend's ex was also coming back. She stood there; looking at the excited faces on her friends as they continued to stare at the arrivals slowly came out of the gate one by one. She could feel Tommy trembling as she held onto him. She could see on his face that he was really nervous, and a slight jolt of jealousy hit her. Kat's worst fear was to hear, see or feel that Tommy was still in love with Kim. From the very beginning when she came to Angel grove, she had envied what Kim and Tommy had. Day after day as she saw the two walking down the school halls together, she had this slight feeling of jealousy towards Kim. Her jealousy grew more and more with every hug she saw Kim give to Tommy and every kiss and every present. Even when she saw Tommy put his eyes on Kim, fumes of jealousy would explode inside of her. And Kat couldn't help but feel guilty. She never had these bitter feeling towards a person like she had towards Kim. Never in her life did she feel to actually kill some one. Then we she learned that Kim was leaving for Florida, Kat was the happiest she had ever been. She was even happier when Kim sent the letter to Tommy. And after seeing Tommy depressed over the breakup, Kat decided to take advantage of it. She was by Tommy's side, constantly helping him feel better, doing everything that she could to make him forget about Kimberly. Then finally one day, things between her and Tommy started to bloom. They were hanging out together day after day, having six-hour conversations over the phone late into the night. And then one day, Tommy just kissed her. Kat had finally gotten what she had wanted for a long time, and the feeling was just incredible. Soon after, their relationship became more serious; Tommy moved into Kat's apartment.   
Now it had been three and a half years into their relationship. They had even talked about marriage. But now that Kim was coming back to Angel Grove, it scared the hell out of Kat. The thought of Tommy even eyeing Kim made her feel like exploding. It even went as far as having the urge to make Tommy leave with her before Tommy even had the chance to get a glimpse of Kim. But Kat stood there patiently, as did everyone else. It was nerve wrecking.

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Kim's POV

After I made through customs, I placed my entire luggage onto one of those huge airport carts. I was overwhelmed on how much junk I had collected over the years in Florida, and I guess I had to suffer the consequences coming back here, carrying, pushing and pulling all my heavy cargo. I joined the stampede of passengers making their way through the arrival gate. I could already here the shouts and cries from outside the gate, as people greeted each other. As soon as I saw the big "Arrivals" sign, my nerves got to me again. My palms started to sweat, making my handbag slip out of my hands and drop to the floor. I quickly picked up and hurried my way over. As I walked through, all I could see was a huge ocean of people. There was no way I could make out my friends from the huge crowd before me. Suddenly I heard someone shout out "Kim!" But there were too many people in front of me, I couldn't figure out which direction it was coming from. I turned my head in each direction, but I still couldn't see anyone I knew. Then out of no where, Jason jumped in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up in the air.

"Oh my god, I have missed you so much!" Jason exclaimed.

"Nice to see you too." I replied. 

"So how's Lacey?" He asked. I laughed at the immediate question, because I knew that he still loved her, and that he would never stop. It was just so sweet how he still cared about her after all this time.

"I so knew you were gonna ask that." I giggled. "She's fine."

"KIMMIE!" Someone squealed behind me. I turned around to see my best friend Aisha running up to me. She had a huge smile on her face, with her long black braids waving in the air as she made her way over, and let out her arms for a hug. 

"Aisha, oh my god, I haven't seen you in like… Forever!"

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe you're actually here." She replied, hugging me tightly so that I couldn't breathe. "You so have to fill me in on what's been goin' on over in Florida!"

I chuckled. "I'll make sure I will."

"Kim, how's it going?" Rocky replied walking up from behind me. He bent down, gave me a hug, and went off to help out Jason with my luggage.

"I'm doing good." I smiled, and turned to Billy and Adam to greet them. I looked behind Billy to see an African-America girl standing there looking at me. I asked Billy who she was. Apparently, the girl was Tanya Sloan, Adam's girlfriend. She had moved to Angel Grove about two years ago from Africa. I thought it was cool, 'cause I got to meet new person. She was really nice and polite, and quite humorous.   
As I finished off introducing myself to Tanya, the dreaded happened. I turned towards my luggage to see what was left to do, when my eyes immediately met the eyes of the one and only Tommy Oliver. My mouth wet dry, as I got caught in his stare. He had a blank look on his face, and I didn't now what it meant. It kind of scared me at first because I thought he was angry, but it wasn't that. I used to be so good at reading his facial expressions, but this one left me thinking. I tried to collect myself together and say something. I went as far as opening my mouth, but I was stuck at the wording part. Not a single sound would come out.

"Hey." He softly said, as my eyes widened, shocked at the fact that HE said something first.

"H-Hi." I stuttered. With just the two words that we had exchanged, I could already feel the awkwardness between us, which forced me to move on.

"Hi Kat." I turned.

"Hey Kimberly. Glad you're back." She smiled looking almost as if it were forced, making me feel that she didn't mean what she said. I smiled back at her.

"So… what are we going to do now?" Billy asked.

"Well…" Jason managed to say lifting up another one of my suitcases. "Why don't bring all this crap over to my place…" He said letting it back down onto the ground. "And we can order some pizza and hang out." He sighed.

"Sounds good to me." Adam answered, holding Tanya's hand.

"Cool." I mumbled, walking over to the cart and started pushing it towards the exit. 

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Tommy's POV

That evening we all stayed over at Jason's apartment, where Kim would be staying. At times I was glad she was staying at Jason's than Aisha's or somebody else's, because I made way more visits to Jason's place any way. Back at the airport, I remembered the awkwardness I felt when I took the courage to say Hi. I still couldn't get over how different Kim looked the first moment I saw her there. Five years can do a lot on girl, and I meant that in a good way. She looked sophisticated, more mature and more… beautiful. I quickly shut my eyes regretting I even thought of that. _"More beautiful?"_ I thought to myself. _"Get a grip Tommy." _Yes, seeing Kim did bring a lot of old memories, but I had to remind my self that those "old memories" happened a _long_ time ago. I sat on Jason's couch, with Kat beside me, as we all pigged out on pepperoni pizza. Aisha, Jason and Kim were constantly chatting away about what was going on in Florida like Jason's ex-girlfriend, and Kim's reason for leaving gymnastics. She said something like how it wasn't cut out for her or some crap like that, so she spent two years just chilling and enjoying life in Florida. I was shocked to even hear that she had given up on gymnastics. That was something I did not expect to happen. All of the years I had known Kim; she had always been about gymnastics. The balance beam, the floor exercise and the uneven bars… everything. She could do everything. And then to here that she gave it all up, that was like seeing a whole new Kimberly. And something made me think that maybe the Kimberly sitting in front of me wasn't the same Kimberly that I saw went she left five years ago. 


	2. Chapter 2 Hiding

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Endless Roads

Chapter Two - Hiding

The next morning, Kim woke up to delicious aroma of fried eggs and bacon. She slowly opened her eyes, still lying comfortably in bed. A smile appeared on her face as she realized that Jason had woken up extra early to cook her breakfast. She slowly sat up and stretched her arms out, letting out a big yawn. She reached for her robe that rested on a chair next to the bed. She quickly put it on and joined Jason outside of her room.

"Good morning!" Jason exclaimed.

"Well what do we have here?" Kim asked walking up to the kitchen table.

"Madame, your breakfast is served." Jason replied, placing a plate of food on the table.

"Wow Jason. I have to say, I'm impressed."

"I've had practice." He smiled back as Kim took a seat, grabbed a fork and took a bite of Jason's creation.

"Oh my god, Jason. Why did you not cook like this when you were back in Florida?"

"Well with a cook like Lacey around, what's the point." Jason joked. Kim laughed.

"Do you miss her?" she asked.

"Yeah." Jason said hesitantly.

"She's misses you too." Kim responded.

"Thanks Kim. That was good to hear." He smiled. Kim paused, staring down at her plate.

"I guess this is my part when I go: I know how you feel." Kim replied, reflecting to when she had let go of Tommy when writing him the letter. Jason looked over at her with sympathy in his eyes. She looked up to see him gazing at her.

"What?"

"So how was it?"

"How was what?

"Seeing him again." Jason whispered. Kim shut her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't believe that Jason asked her that.

"Jason don't start this." Kim replied, shaking her head.

"Start what?"

"This whole 'how did you feel seeing Tommy again' thing!" Kim snapped.

"Kim, you broke up with the poor guy, practically ripping his heart into two. And you don't feel any regret or sympathy?"

"That was five years ago, we've both moved on. I don't understand why you're bringing up this _old_ topic!"

"Oh come on… don't tell me you don't still feel for him." Jason replied.

"You know what? As a matter of fact, I don't." Kim blurted out. "Not at all."

"Kim…"

"Did you hear me, Jason? That was five years ago! I've gotten OVER all of that."

"I don't believe you."

"God, Jason! I can't believe I'm getting this from you!" Kim snapped again.

"All right then… I'm sorry that I even brought it up."

"No! You should be sorry for even _thinking_ about it!"

"Well excuse me for asking."

"Why are you asking me this any way? This my first morning back, and you're already starting at it about Tommy."

"Kim look, I saw the tension between the two of you last night. There was obviously something on your mind."

"And so that automatically made you assume that I was thinking about him?" Kim snapped again. Jason remained silent, not knowing what to say next. He knew it was a huge mistake to bring up the subject. He looked back up at Kim, who had a huge frown upon her face.

"I'll have you know that I wasn't thinking about Tommy last night. Believe me… that is the last thing I want to worry about now."

"Why? What's going on?" Jason asked.

"Weren't you paying attention last night? Didn't you hear my gymnastics story?" Kim replied.

"Oh that." Jason realized. There was silence between the two for a quick moment. "Why'd you hide it then, if it was going to bother you?"

"Are you crazy! Do you really think I'm going to tell them the real reason why I left gymnastics?"

"Well they're you're friends aren't they? Don't you think they deserve the truth?"

"Jason, don't give me that crap."

"Look, I understand your situation. That's why I didn't stop you from lying to them last night, but the truth's gonna come out sooner or later."

"Well right now they don't need to know."

"Fine then." Jason mumbled, as Kim continued eating her breakfast. So many thoughts were going through her mind. Jason was right. The truth was going to come out, and she wasn't ready to deal with it. Her life in Angel Grove was so different compared to the life she had in Florida. A life that she enjoyed but was ashamed of to show to those who knew her so well. She'd die if Aisha, Tommy and the rest of the group found out about what she had done to herself. She didn't want them to think that she was a bad person, because she wasn't. In fact, coming back home may have been one of the best decisions she had made in years. She looked over at Jason who was reading the newspaper quietly. She was glad that he was there. There was no way she would get through life in Angel Grove, lying her whole way through, by herself. He was the only one that knew, and she expected him to keep it a secret. The group wasn't ready to hear her tale, and she wasn't ready to tell it.

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(Author's Note: Okay… I know this chapter was short, but it's better than no chapter at all. LOL!! I'm loving the reviews that you guys have been giving! Keep it up!! Thanx. ) 


	3. Chapter 3 Keeping Away

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Endless Roads

Chapter 3 - Keeping Away

Kat's POV

I watched Tommy quietly watching TV as I continued washing dishes in the kitchen. He hadn't said a word this morning and I was starting to get a little curious… worried actually. Last night at Jason's apartment I couldn't help but notice Tommy's eyes on Kimberly the whole time. Kimberly had been talking the whole night about all the opportunities she had in Florida, the great beaches there and the 'awesome new friends' she had made. When Kimberly started talking about the new people she had met, I felt like walking up to her and slapping her. She probably didn't think about how it would affect everybody else by hearing this, especially Tommy. Because one of those 'new people' was probably the loser she left Tommy for. It was obvious that she didn't even care about any of our feelings when she went on bragging about how much nicer it was there in Florida than here. Like as if we were too cheap to move to Florida and she wasn't. I mean give me a break! It was good and all that she went; maybe it would have been better if she stayed. Then she went on talking about leaving gymnastics after three years there in Florida. It was a little disappointing, because that was the whole reason why she left. But like it mattered any way. I knew I wasn't going to like her return, and I already noticed the effects of it on Tommy. All Kimberly was causing was more pain, and I could see it all over his face. I first saw it at the airport as we were leaving, and then at Jason's place when she talked… _and talked_. Believe me it was the most boring thing ever. To everyone else who was there, they all seemed really interested, but I could care less what she did in Florida. As I said before, it would have been a lot better if she stayed.  
Suddenly, my thoughts we interrupted by the ringing of the phone. 

"Hey Tommy, could you get that for me." I yelled out.

"Yeah, sure." Tommy replied, getting off the couch as he headed for the phone. 

"Hello?"

[Hey bro, what's up?] 

"Oh Hey Jason, nothing much. Just watching some TV." 

[Cool… any ways, me and Kim are gonna go over to Starbucks for some coffee. I was just wondering if you and Kat want to join us.]

"Oh sure. That sounds great."

[All right, well I guess I'll see you there.] Jason replied.

"Yup. See ya man."

[Bye.] Jason said, and Tommy hung up the phone.

"So what did Jason want?" I asked.

"Oh, he and Kim are going out for some coffee and want us to come." Tommy replied. "We better go get ready, they're leaving right now."

"Whoa, since when were we going out for coffee?"

"Since Jason called…" Tommy mumbled.

"Well who said I wanted to go?" I asked sternly.

"Well do you want to go?"

"No. I don't." I blurted out, which caught Tommy by surprise. He had a puzzled look on his face. 

"Is there something wrong, Kat?"

"No. There's nothing wrong. I just don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"Because! Have you taken a look at this place? It's a mess!"

"Well… can't you clean it up later? This is Kim's first day back, we should help her feel more welcome."

"Didn't we _just_ do that last night?" I snapped. Tommy paused.

"Kat, do you not like Kim being back or something. Because I'm starting to feel that you don't." He asked. I blushed, and immediately turned around so that Tommy couldn't see.

"Of course not. I'm happy Kim's back… it's just like old times." I replied, regretting every word I had just said.

"Well good. Any ways, if you don't want to go, we don't have to go." 

"No Tommy, you should go." I couldn't believe I had just said that.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I won't if you don't want me to."

"Yeah." I whispered.

"Okay." He replied, and headed towards the bathroom.

When I heard the bathroom door slam shut, I collapsed and supported all my weight against the kitchen counter. I couldn't believe what I just said. Tommy wasn't even sure if he should have gone, and yet I said _"Yeah."_ Now he was going to hang out with Kim today, and the worst part was I wasn't going to be there. I could just see it now; his eyes upon her face, then wandering lower, checking out her muscular figure. It sickened me. And all I could do was blame myself, 'cause I said _"Yeah."_  
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Half an hour later, Kim, Jason, Tanya and Adam had made their way into the café. Unfortunately, Aisha and Billy had to work that morning and Rocky had to help out his sister move out of his parent's place. A few minutes after the four had entered inside, Tommy arrived. He told them that Kat wasn't feeling well and that she wasn't able to join them. A look of disappointment formed over Jason's face. It had been so long since the whole group did something together, and it did upset him that not everyone was able to make it. However, it didn't bother him too much thought, because at least Kim and Tommy were present. He never mentioned it to anyone, but he was destined to get the two to start talking to each other again. He offered to by everyone something and headed over to the cashier, as the rest took a seat in the lounge area. Kim, regretting that she ever did, brought up the subject about work and school. Something she needed to get back on top of. Adam mentioned how he was still in Law school, studying, while Tanya was in school as well, striving to get her degree in nursing. Tommy went on to explain his long story about his new love, race car driving. He had been working at auto body shop, which totally caught Kim by surprise, because she had always known Tommy for his martial arts abilities. It amazed her how much he had changed over time, and in some way she was shocked.

"Racing… never imagined you doing that for a living." Kim mumbled.

"Yeah, well… my uncle hooked me up one summer. It's really fun."

"I'm sure it is." Kim replied, hiding her disinterest behind a smiled.

"Here's your latte, Tanya." Jason interrupted, coming back with everyone's drinks. "So what are you guys talking about?" He asked. Kim informed him that they were talking about jobs and school. Jason then went on to explain how he got the job to teach at the "Red Dragon Martial Arts Center", where he had gone as a kid. Kim continued listening to their stories, amazed to hear how well everybody's lives were going, compared to hers. Here, they were going to college, achieving goals and getting their dream jobs, while the whole time in Florida, she was just trying to see exactly what she wanted in life. She never realized that when she would come back to Angel Grove, she'd be so out of it. But that didn't mean that Kim didn't try, because she did, and she got help. But no matter how hard she tried, _it_ would always get in the way. _It _always interfered, causing her to take a step back, every time she tried to go forward. And at times, she felt that all she could do was blame herself for not making the right decision; screwing everything up that she believed in. She took another look at the four that sat around her. The only difference between them and her was that they were happy. She wasn't. Florida took her happiness away from her, making her envy anyone who had a future ahead of them. These thoughts flooded her mind, separating her from everything else. It took a lot of energy out of her to hide these feelings. This was something that not even Jason knew about. Yes, Jason knew her secrets, but he didn't know about how Kim really felt. It was something that Kim decided to keep hidden. Kim had changed, changed in ways where it scared her in a way. And at times it made her hate herself. She had lost the identity that Angel Grove had known her for, her perkiness and her zest. That's what made her hide, that's what made her lie… and she had to live with it. Kim's mind was now in a totally different place. Suddenly, a flashback entered her thoughts, giving her a dark blurry vision of a night back in Florida. She remembered that night, the chaos she had been through. She could remember all the screeching and screaming and the bright lights flashing before her. These painful memories continued, as she remembered lying on the ground not knowing what was going on. A tall, dark man had ran up to her, asking her questions as she lay there. She remembered crying, and that she wasn't alone suffering the pain. Suddenly a hand waved before her eyes, as her name was called out.

"Kim? Hello? Earth to Kim?" Adam said, waving his hand in front of her face. Kim remained staring across the room, not blinking.

"KIM!" Jason yelled out. 

"Huh?" She finally snapped out of her thoughts.

"Where the hell were you just now?" Jason asked.

"Um…" Kim mumbled looking a little flushed.

"You okay?" Tommy spoke up. Kim quickly jerked her head up so that her eyes could meet his.

"I-I gotta go to the washroom… excuse me." She blurted out, quickly getting up from her seat. All of them watched as she darted over to the washroom at the back of the store. 

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(Author's Note: Yet another short chapter! Sorry. But anyways, please tell me that this made sense, 'cause I've been going through a mid-life crisis right now, and it's hard to write something that makes sense when you're mad. LOL! But THANK YOU SO MUCH for the great reviews you guys. You make me wanna keep going on with this story. THANX A LOT!!! Oh! Also, I made a banner for this story, I'll have it uploaded in the next few days, and then I'll give you the address where you can see it… but until then, KEEP REVIEWING!")


	4. Chapter 4 Talking Again

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Endless Roads

Chapter 4 - Talking Again

It had been twenty minutes since Kim had gotten up to go to the washroom. Everyone was concerned asking themselves why on earth she left all of a sudden. Jason sat there a little worried because he had a feeling he knew what was going on. Was Kim starting to feel a bit insecure? Was talking about how great everyone's lives were, intimidating? If only he was a girl, he'd rush into that washroom and see what was wrong with her. He looked straight across from him to see the confused faces on Tanya, Adam and Tommy. He felt a little bit saddened knowing that they had no clue about anything that Kim had been through. How on earth was Kim going to survive suffering the effects of her life in Florida, while lying her way through when she should have been getting support from her closest friends. Something gave him the urge to tell them flat out, right then and there. Kim was gone, giving him the perfect chance to inform them about what really happened to their friend, but Jason was a noble guy. He couldn't betray Kim's trust like that.

"Do you guys want me to go in there and check up on her?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah you go do that… she's been in there for a while now." Adam responded. 

"I'd be careful." Jason blurted out, catching the attention of the three.

"Why?" Adam asked.

"Um…" Jason mumbled, regretting what he had said. "Well, Kim told me she's hit that time of the month… and you know how woman act."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, Jason. I happen to be a woman myself, so I'm sure I know EXACTLY what Kim's going through."

_"I'm sure you do." _Jason thought to himself. "Sorry Tanya… I didn't mean it that way."

"It's okay." Tanya smiled, making her way to the back of the store. She passed the cashier and read a sign that hung from the ceiling that read 'Restrooms' on it. She followed the arrows, which led her to the ladies room. She carefully opened the door to see Kim standing there in front of the mirror. In her hand she held a scrunched up piece of tissue. Tanya looked at her face; her eye make up smudged across her cheeks. Kim looked at Tanya's reflection in the mirror surprised to see her there. Kim gave a little sniff, took the tissue and wiped the mess off her face. 

"Didn't expect you to be here." Kim quietly replied.

"Kim, are you okay." Tanya asked.

"I'm fine." She answered, turning on the water faucet.

"You sure don't look like it."

"Gee, thanks." Kim responded, sternly.

"You know what I mean."

"I do know what you mean, and I told you. I'm fine." she stammered.

"Then why the tears?" Tanya asked. Kim paused looking at herself in the mirror. Her mind had been flooded of awful memories that she wished would just go away. Flashbacks of the dreadful night would appear in her mind. She hated the awful sight of her face. It was the sight of shame and humility, and it disgusted her. She looked down at the water running out of the faucet. She placed her hands underneath it and splashed some water on her face. 

"Kim, there's obviously something on your mind. Why don't you share it?" Tanya whispered, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Tanya, I appreciate your want in helping me, but I don't know you that well… all right." Kim replied, stepping away from Tanya.

"So you're admitting that there is something wrong with you." Tanya said.

"Look, there nothing wrong with me!" Kim snapped.

"Well you just said that you appreciate me helping you. Helping you with what?"

"Look, it's none of your god damn business, all right!" 

"Kim, I know we don't know each other that well, but I honestly want to help you."

"Then do yourself a favor, and don't."

"Why are you getting so mad about this."

"Because I don't like people butting into my business!" Kim yelled. "Especially people I don't know!" 

"I understand that, but look at you. You're a complete wreck, and I'm sure that I'm the only one here right now in this washroom, that can help you. If only you would tell me what's wrong!" Tanya yelled back.

"Why don't you get the hell out of here! I don't need your help!" Kim snapped.

"But Kim…"

"GET THE HELL OUT!" 

"FINE!" Tanya shouted. "Maybe Jason, Adam or Tommy can knock some sense into you then."

"NO!" Kim blurted out. "Not Tommy or Adam." Tanya looked at Kim and saw fear in her watery eyes. She was confused. Why didn't Kim want her to tell Tommy and Adam?

"What?"

"Look… just get Jason over here okay. But not Tommy or Adam."

"Why?"

"Please Tanya, I beg you." Kim walked towards her and grabbed her shoulders. "If you want to help me, you won't tell Adam or Tommy… or anyone. Don't tell them about this argument we just had, just forget that this even happened."

"Why… so you can hide what an awful person you really are." Tanya replied. Kim swallowed hard. Tanya's words were like a punch in the stomach.

"Tanya, I'm sorry if I made out to be this mean person… it's just… it's…"

"You're at that time of the month?" Tanya interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Jason told me earlier."

"… yeah." Kim replied confused, following along.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone about what just happened between us." Tanya retorted. "I promise."

"Thanks." Kim smiled, as she watched Tanya walk out of the washroom. She made her way back to where the guys were sitting to tell Jason that Kim needed to see him. Tanya couldn't understand why Kim didn't want her to tell anyone about the way she acted. She couldn't help but think that the reason why Kim didn't want her to tell was because she didn't want them knowing how nasty she acted, but something made her feel like it wasn't that. All Tanya knew was to go over to Jason and tell him that Kim needed to see him, but when she made it to the lounge area, Jason was gone.

"Where's Jason?" Tanya asked.

"Oh, he got a call from work on his cell. They said that one of the other instructors called in sick, so Jason left to go sub in." Adam explained.

"Crap." Tanya whispered.

"Why?" Tommy replied.

"Kim needed to talk to him. You guys should see her, she's a complete…" Tanya paused. She remembered that Kim didn't want her to tell what happened, and good thing she stopped or else she would have blabbed out everything.

"She's a complete what?" Tommy asked.

"Uh… I forgot what I was going to say." Tanya mumbled.

"You said Kim was something… what were you going to say?"

"I told you. I forgot."

"Okay…" Tommy muttered, confused.

"Hey Tommy, I think I'm gonna head out… I got some things to do for my mom today." Adam replied, getting up from his seat.

"Wait, what about Kim. She's still in there." Tanya replied.

"Oh you guys go ahead." Tommy spoke. "I'll take care of her." 

"Okay… but be careful." Tanya joked. "You know… she's hit that time of the month." The three laughed.

"Well see ya man." Adam replied, as he and Tanya walked out of the store. Tommy stood there alone for a moment. He didn't know weather to wait outside, for Kim to come out, or go over there, and get her out himself. He then decided to walk over to the restrooms to check up on her. Kim had been in there for over half an hour now, and it did seem a little strange that it was taking her so long. Tommy walked to the back of the store, and stood in front of the ladies room, and quietly tapped on the door.

"Kim?" Tommy replied. 

"Jason, I can't do this anymore!" Kim snapped, quickly swinging the door open, shocked to see the person standing before her wasn't Jason. "Tommy?"

"Kim, are you okay? What's wrong?" Tommy asked, stunned to see Kim looking like… well, shit. Kim quickly wiped the tears of her face, nervously. Her hands were shaking like crazy.

"Where the hell is Jason?" Kim quietly replied.

"Uh… he left. He had to go to work. But you didn't answer my question. Are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine… what do you mean he had to go to work!" Kim replied… trying to get the topic off of her.

"They called him on his cell. They said that one of the instructors called in sick, so Jason's gonna be a substitute."

"What the fuck!" Kim yelled. "He just left without even telling me?"

"Kim, I'm sure he didn't mean it on purpose." Tommy said. "Look, are you sure you're okay. You've been in the washroom for a long time now."

"I told you! I'm fine." Kim snapped.

"Kay… well you want to get out of here, 'cause Adam and Tanya already left."

"W-with you?" Kim stuttered.

"No, with the eighty year old man, sitting at the table near the door… OF COURSE ME!" Tommy joked.

"Um…" 

"Unless you have a problem with that." Tommy replied.

"No. No… there's no problem." Kim responded.

"Okay… well, let's go." Tommy said, as he and Kim walked out of the store… together.  
_______________________________________________________

Kim and Tommy walked down the parking lot towards Tommy's car. She could feel the awkwardness grow between them, as every second passed by. She wondered what he was thinking and what he was feeling. This was the most interacting the two had done ever since she had gotten back, and it still wasn't much. She walked behind Tommy, watching him lead the way to his car. His long brown hair rested on his big, broad shoulders, as he held his car keys in his hand while they dangled in the air making clinging noises. It was just so hard to look at him the same way. Although she was only standing a meter behind him, it felt like miles. Tommy was a grown man now, living on his own, maintaining a job that she never pictured he'd do, and not doing martial arts. That was what Tommy was all about, Karate. And he didn't even do that anymore. It was shocking, probably as shocking as the news about her not doing gymnastics. But Kim had a reason. What was Tommy's? What made him change his mind about what he wanted to do in life? Was there a tragic incident that occurred, just like Kim? There were so many questions Kim wanted to ask him, but her lack of confidence wasn't helping. Suddenly her thoughts went back to what happened in the café. The flashbacks of the horrible night back in Florida kept appearing in her mind. Memories that she wanted to forget. Kim remembered what Tanya said to her earlier in the washroom. _"Kim, there's obviously something on your mind. Why don't you share it?" _Tanya was right, and it scared Kim half to death to know that her feelings were shining right through her, when they were supposed to be hidden away from anyone to see. Kim had to forget it all and move on, but the memories kept coming back, as everyone kept asking her what went on in Florida. Kim stopped, when a huge jolt of pain struck her brain. She took her hands, and tightly held her head, giving out a quiet groan.

"Kim? Are you okay?" Tommy asked, noticing that Kim stopped walking. She just stood there, with her hands on her head. A look of frustration appeared on her face, which concerned Tommy a lot. 

"Kim?" He asked again, still not getting a response. He quickly started walking towards her, with greater concern. "Hey… Kim!" Tommy yelled out.

"Huh?" She quickly jerked her head up and made eye contact with Tommy.

"What's going on?" Tommy replied.

"Oh nothing…" Kim blushed, and started walking again. She turned her head, looking across the street. "Hey… when did they put that park in?"

"Oh that place?" Tommy pointed out. "That's been there for about 2 years now. They got tennis and basketballs courts… and this new picnic area."

"Cool." Kim mumbled.

"You wanna go check it out?"

"Yeah…" Kim nodded. "I could use the fresh air." She replied, rubbing her temples.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tommy asked.

"Yes! I'm fine!" Kim snapped.

"Okay…" Tommy muttered, as the two made their way across the street. Tommy watched Kim make her way through the trail of the park. She had been acting really mysterious ever since Tommy arrived in Starbucks. She was constantly spacing out, not paying attention to anything, like there was something really important on her mind. Tommy felt as if he was the only one who noticed it. And then when Kim disappeared into the washroom, not coming out almost half an hour later, it started to worry him even more. He wanted to dig deep into her thoughts and figure out what it was that was bugging her. And somehow, Kim's behavior started to become worse. The crying wreck she portrayed when she bursted out of the washroom, her quick snap backs at him, and the strange actions she had done in the parking lot a few minutes ago. All these things seemed strange to him, causing his curiosity grow. The two continued walking through the park, under the gigantic cedar trees standing tall above them. The cool shade that it provided was relaxing. Kim had a smile on face, overjoyed at the peacefulness of the walk through the park. Tommy looked at her; he couldn't help but smile as well. Her smile was contagious. Kim quickly glanced towards Tommy, startled that he was looking at her. She quickly turned her head and looked towards the direction in front of her. Tommy gave a little chuckle. He was surprise, how well he was taking this. He wasn't nervous at all, not a single bit of fear hit him, and it was great feeling. He felt that he had the confidence to talk to her, ask her things that he'd always wanted to know; and what better time, than the present.

"I bet Florida is way more exciting that this." Tommy replied. Kim glanced at him.

"I wouldn't say exciting." Kim said. "Yes, Florida was interesting, but not exciting."

"Oh come on, Kim. You don't seriously mean that. I mean all the things you can do there. I'd die to go to Daytona and watch the racing."

"Like I said, it was interesting."

"Right."

"Hey why don't we chill over there." Kim replied, pointing over to a picnic table.

"Sure." Tommy nodded. The two made their way over, and sat across from each other on the table.

"You know… this place it actually nice." Kim complimented.

"Yeah…" Tommy muttered, looking at his surrounding, and then at Kim.

"Listen Kim, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." 

Kim's eyes widened in shock, knowing what was coming next. Her mouth went dry, hands shaking, and her palms getting moist. Although her nervousness was getting the best of her, she still had enough strength to collect all her confidence to speak.

"About what?"

"You." Tommy quickly responded.

"Me?" Kim's eyebrows raised.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I've noticed something, ever since you've came back. You've been acting really weird lately Kim… I just want to know what's up."

Those words were like an intense punch to the stomach, with Kim taking the hit. She froze, with her answer at the tip of her tongue. How was she supposed to explain it to him? Should she explain it to him? Her eyes stared deep into his, the fear of him knowing, shining through. Tommy had a puzzled look on his face waiting for Kim to answer. But the longer he waited the quieter and more intense it got. Kim promised herself she wouldn't tell a soul and she was sticking to it.

"I'm just not feeling well, that's all." Kim responded, lying through her teeth.

"You're sick?" 

"A little."

Tommy looked at Kim. Somehow, he didn't believe her. There was this expression on her face that he couldn't point out, but it told a lot. And one thing was, what she had just said… wasn't the truth. 

(Author's Note: Okay… so there was chapter 4. I promise you Kim's secret will be revealed REALLY SOON!!! So the waiting will be over, very soon. Hopefully you guys liked this chapter; it's kinda questionable to me. But this is my first fic… so I expect it not to be the greatest. Anywayz, thank you guys so much for the great reviews. I love reading what you guys think!!)


	5. Chapter 5 Frustrating Circumstances

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Endless Roads

Chapter 5 - Frustrating Circumstances

Kim's POV

I couldn't take it anymore. The constant questions Tommy directed towards me were too much to handle. I wanted to change the subject, but I was being too obvious. I looked at his eyes, and I could see the concern on his face. Nothing I could say would change the subject, he kept going on and on about how I was acting strangely. I was never good at lying, because I'd always let my emotions show, always expressed my feelings and shared my opinions with everyone. Tommy wouldn't let it go. He knew there was something on my mind, he knew there was something bugging me. I guess it was kind of my fault because I had made it so obvious when he saw me after I stormed out of the washroom. And I guess I couldn't be surprised as well, because Tommy was always really good when it came to reading my mind. It was actually overwhelming that he was still able to after all these years. But no matter how much he made me feel uncomfortable, I wasn't going to give in. Nothing was going to make me give in. So I continued to tell him that I wasn't feeling well, and he offered to drive me home. 

I entered Jason's apartment, and shut my eyes; frustrated with myself. Everything was falling apart sooner than I thought. I didn't know how I was going to deal with everything, now with Tommy and Tanya knowing there was something up with me. Then the idea of coming out got into mind. But the thought of everyone knowing scared me to death. Of what I did, and what I had become, it would be too humiliating to bear if they knew. Remembering the worst night of my life was hard enough as is, but re telling my story to every single detail would rip me into pieces. 

Another flashback replayed in mind, as my dark blurry vision transformed into seeing bright flashes of blue and red light blinding me as I lay on the ground, feeling the cold, rough road on my back. I could hear footsteps coming my way. Every thud was like an earthquake, as the person came closer and closer. My vision was too blurry to make out who it was, but I knew he wasn't there to harm me. I could hear his voice, but all I could make out was quiet mumbling. I remembered turning my head to the other direction, as I tried to make out where on earth I was, when I saw another body facing towards me. That person was lying on the ground too, but with their eyes closed, and at that moment I knew I was lucky. I could hear sirens becoming louder as more time passed by. More vehicles had come, and more people surrounded the other body and me. Soon enough I was lifted into one of those vehicles and was taken away.

The most frightening night of my life was a close call. I could never forgive myself for what I'd done. What I did was awful, what I'd become was even worse. When I came back to Angel Grove, I was hounded by everyone, asking me how everything was in Florida. I was sick of how they thought that it must've been so much fun, that it must've been like paradise or something. But with my experience it was everything but that. If I were to come out with what really happened, their perspective of me would change drastically. Without my friends, I'd be alone. I had already lost everything that meant so much to me, losing my friends would leave me in a dead end. And that was why coming out with the truth wasn't an option. I had to cling onto what I had left. I had to hide, and I had to lie. 

Suddenly, I was interrupted by ringing of the telephone. I quickly ran over, hoping it was Jason, so I could give him a piece of mind after he left me with Tommy.

"Hello?" I replied.

"Kim?!" The person immediately answered? "Is that you?"

"Y-yes… who is this?" I responded, a bit hesitant.

"KIM! It's me…" 

"Lacey?" I replied; confused that Lacey was calling.

"Uh… YEAH!"

"Oh hey! What's up?"

"What's up? Is that all your going to say?"

"Well what do you expect me to say?"

"Like how ya holding up? Or what's the 411 on Trent!"

"Huh? What about Trent?"

"Oh my god… you don't know!"

"Know what?"

"Didn't Jason tell you? I told him to tell you!"

"Tell me what!? What's wrong with Trent!?" I exclaimed, worried about what I was about to hear.

"God… I can't believe Jason didn't tell you. This is only like EXTREMELY important." Lacey muttered.

"Lacey! For god sakes, just tell me! What the hell happened to Trent!" I yelled. The tone of voice Lacey had, was starting to scare me. I just left Florida, and already something went wrong. Trent was one of my friends from Florida. A fun guy but was obsessed with bets and gambling. One day I knew he was going to get into big trouble, and I knew that what Lacey was about to tell me had something to do with it. 

I waited for Lacey to answer, frightened on what Lacey was going to say. I could hear her breathe over the phone, probably to calm herself down. As I waited, the more I dreaded what I was about to hear. My life was already complicated as is; now I was going to hear more bad news.

"Kim… Trent was in a shooting the night you and me were at the airport when you left. When I got the news, you were already on your flight, so I decided to phone Jason, and told him to tell you once you arrived." Lacey replied, nervously.

"You got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not." Lacey paused. "He's fine though… but he was arrested."

"What the hell… h-how did this happen?"

"I went to visit him yesterday, and he said that he, Kyle and Sean made a bet with these guys over the Lakers/Raptors game."

"And they lost, so they couldn't pay them back, which would explain the shoot out." I replied, not surprised with what Trent, Kyle and Sean had done. 

"Yeah… Any ways, they get out next week, and I don't want to be here. I'm scared that there might be another one." Lacey whimpered, as she tried to pull back her tears. "And all I can think is that I could be caught in the middle of it."

"Lacey…"

"I have no where else to go, Kim. So I bought a ticket to Angel Grove."

"Y-you're coming here?"

"I told you I have no where else to go."

I froze, I didn't know what to say other than: "So when do you leave?" 

"Two days from now."

I remained silent. As much as I loved the idea of her coming here, all I could think about was the bad. Lacey coming to Angel Grove would probably cause more questions about my past, more problems for me to handle, and worst of all, it would cause my secret to come out.

"Kim?" Lacey mumbled. "You still there?"

"Uh… yeah." I sighed. "Listen, Lace… I gotta go. I'll talk to ya later okay."

"Kay… see ya Wednesday."

"Bye." I replied, and hung up the phone.   
____________________________________________________

A few hours later, Kim was in her room collecting her thoughts on what to do. Tanya knew something was wrong with her, Tommy already had suspicions and now Lacey was coming to Angel Grove. She could already see everything unravel before her eyes. But what was bugging her most at the moment was that Jason never told her about Trent when she first arrived. Lacey was right, the whole thing with him was extremely important, and she couldn't believe that Jason never told her. She sat on her bed, a little pissed off about it. 

Kim's thoughts were interrupted when she heard something drop in the living room. She immediately knew it was Jason, and she stormed out of her room to confront him.

"When the HELL were you going to tell me about Trent?!" Kim stammered.

"Kim could…"

"NO! Let me finish." Kim interrupted him. "I cannot believe that you kept this from me!"

"Kim…"

"Shut up Jason!" She yelled, noticing Jason's eyes widening. "I am going through flashback after flashback of the damn car accident, and now this whole Trent thing just fucking gets blown up in my face! I've only been here a couple of days and it's already stressful as is! Oh and by the way… I FORGOT to tell YOU that Tanya and Tommy already think shit about me! I'm telling you Jason, it's too soon for ANYONE TO KNOW!" I yelled.

"Kim… you shouldn't have said that." Jason muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kim stammered. 

Suddenly Kim saw a body walk out of the kitchen behind Jason. 

"Tommy." Kim replied, stunned.

"Anyone to know what?" He asked.

(Author's Note: That's Chapter 5 for ya… and once again Thanx for the reviews!!!)


	6. Chapter 6 Coming Out

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Endless Roads

Chapter 6 - Coming Out

Never before had Kim ever felt so frightened in her life. She froze where she stood, wishing she could take back all that she had just said. 

Tommy stared back at her, seeing the fear in her eyes. He could tell now that she was definitely hiding something, that her actions from before were more than her not feeling well. And the answers had to come out now. There was no way he was going to leave Jason's apartment without knowing what was going on. 

Jason looked over at her, noticing her body trembling of nervousness, her face red from embarrassment, and her eyes widened like she had just seen a ghost. A feeling of disappointment hit him; Kim had just blurted out everything. Not even he could make up a lie to save Kim's ass now. At that moment the only thing that could be said was the truth.

****

Kim's POV

How could I tell him? How could I explain all that had happened in that single moment? I wasn't ready to bare the pain of my story, I wasn't ready to tell it, and I sure as hell wasn't ready to take on how he would react. I turned my head to Jason, who gave me shrug. With that I knew I was alone on this; there was no one to help me. What I had dreaded for years, was about to happen right now, and it was something that I couldn't even gather enough strength to do. I looked into Tommy's eyes once again; his stare was so deep, trying to dig into my thoughts to understand what was going on. The innocent look upon his face brought tears to my eyes. I imagined the pain he would feel once he heard what happened to me. The changes of who I was, and the decisions I had made would rip his heart into little pieces. I knew that after this, I would appear to be a whole new, different person to him, and that tore me apart. My knees were too weak to support me, so I sat myself on the couch. I covered my face with my hands to hide the more tears that came with every thought. I could feel Jason and Tommy's eyes on my, as I continued to sit there, collecting my thoughts. But soon those thoughts were interrupted by a voice.  
______________________________________

"Kim… it's time." Jason slowly muttered, as he made his way towards Kim, putting his hand against her shoulder. He gently stroked her back to calm her down. Kim looked up at him, to see his encouraging face. She could see that he was trying to tell her that it was going to be all right. What Kim was about to do would be for the best, and she knew that, but that didn't mean it would result in happiness. She looked over to Tommy, who still remained standing there, waiting for an answer. 

"Where do I even begin?" Kim softly whispered, wiping the tears from underneath her eyes. Jason got up, handed her a tissue, and sat back down right beside her.

"Begin from the beginning." He softly replied. "Tell Tommy the **real **reason why you left gymnastics."

Those sudden words caught Tommy by surprise. The **real** reason? What did Jason mean by the **real** reason? Had Kim been lying about that too? He knew something mysterious was going on with her, but he never would think that Kim would be lying about her decision with gymnastics. So much confusion and so much suspicion kept Tommy's mind occupied, that he didn't even notice that Kim had gotten up right in front of him. He looked into her watery eyes, and could see the fear and the pain that she was feeling. But why was she feeling this? Why was she acting the way she was? There were so many questions to ask her, but Tommy knew that he had to start off light.

"Kim, what's going on?" Tommy asked.

Kim gave a sniff, and slowly nodded.

"Jason's right. It's time…" Kim paused. "That you knew."

Tommy noticed Jason getting up from his seat from behind Kimberly.

"Kim, do you want me to leave?" He asked.

"No." Kim shook her head. "You should be here for this too." She looked at Tommy, gathered all the strength and courage that she had and forced herself to talk.

"The truth is…" Kim began. "I've been lying to you… to everyone since I've came back."

"Yeah… I kind of figured that." Tommy retorted. Tommy's outburst towards Kim felt like a slap in the face. Kim could already hear the anger in his voice, which scared her.

"I never left because I thought it wasn't cut out for me." She replied. "In fact, leaving was not even my decision."

"So whose decision was it then?" Tommy asked, sternly.

"The coach… in fact the whole council to be exact."

"What?"

"Look, Tommy… what Kim's trying to say is that…"

"Jason… let me talk please." Kim replied, interrupting him.

"Go ahead."

"We had a competition in June of '99…" Kim continued on. "And… we had to take a drug test… and I tested positive."

"WHAT? That was an error right?" Tommy responded. Kim looked down at the floor, ashamed of herself. She looked back up at him and shook her head.

"No."

Tommy shook his in disbelief, stunned at what he just heard. He stayed silent, not sure of what to say. 

"When the council found out, they made the decision to kick me off the team." Kim replied.

"Okay, let's rewind here." He replied. "What drug were you positive for?"

Kim stared back at him. She wanted to just say it, but she knew that with every word she said, would hurt him even more. Her fear of his reaction would increase, knowing that there was more bad news coming his way.

"Kim… are you going to say anything?" Tommy stammered. She continued to look at him, as she swallowed hard and turned her head towards Jason. He raised his eyebrows, insisting that she just go ahead and say it. 

"Tommy… you remember the letter, right?" 

"Yeah, I remember."

"The guy that I met… his name is Craig Andrews and…"

"Kim, what does this have to do with anything?" Tommy interrupted raising his voice, not wanting to know about the guy she left him for.

"Because he got me into the drugs!" Kim snapped, with more tears forming in her eyes. "I got involved with the wrong guy, and yet I couldn't leave him."

Tommy's eyes widened, shocked at the fact that the girl standing right in front of her, whom he used to know so well, was a completely different person. Never did he imagine that Kim would be doing drugs.

"All it was at first, was just going to clubs and having drinks." Kim explained. "But then worse became worst. He got me into crack… and then this one night…" Kim stopped.

"What?"

"This one night, we were up in his room." Kim replied. "I was high off the crack, and… he just started putting needles into me." She began to sob. "And weeks later, I had the test done. I was positive for heroine."

Tommy shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe this Kim."

"Me neither." She whispered. "I was so depressed when I was kicked off, that I thought that drugs were my way out, and so I continued on with it. And I couldn't leave Craig 'cause he was always there for me. He lured me towards him in a way where I couldn't escape."

"I-I don't know what to say, I'm speechless." Tommy replied. "You're telling me all these things that I could never imagine you would do."

"I know." Kim sniffed. Silence grew in the room, as Kim and Tommy remained standing. "I've become things no one could ever dream I'd be."

"Look, Kim… I've told you this before," Jason replied. "Just because you took drugs, doesn't make you a bad person. You were just going through a tough time in your life."

"I'm not talking about that Jason!" Kim yelled, as tears started pouring down her cheeks.

"What are you talking about Kim? What have you become?" Tommy asked.

Kim paused, as more flashbacks of the car accident entered her mind. The face that lay beside her was haunting. A sight she never would forget. Every time she saw it, it would remind of what she had done and what she had become… a murderer.

"Kim… what did you do?" Tommy asked again, with great curiosity. She quickly jerked her head up in Tommy's direction. The stunned look in her eyes started to freak Tommy out. All he could think was what was going on in that mind of hers.

Kim swallowed hard, trying to find the words to say.

"I killed him." Kim blurted out.

Tommy gave a frown, confused at what he just heard.

"What? What do you mean you killed him?"

"I'm a murderer…" Kim sobbed. "That's what I've become."

"Kim what did I say before?" Jason immediately got up from the couch. "It wasn't your fault."

"Jason, you weren't there!" Kim exclaimed. "You were in that car! I was driving!"

"Whoa! Slow down here." Tommy budged in. "What are you talking about?"

"Craig offered to drive that night, and I took the wheel." 

"Kim that's because he was way more hammered than you were." Jason replied. Kim shook her head in denial. "Kim look at me. I've told you a million times, if Craig had taken the wheel that night, you might have not survived. You're lucky as hell that you didn't end up being paralyzed."

Tommy was stunned to hear more. Hearing about Kim almost at death panicked him. A part of him made him feel sorry for her, but a part of him made him feel angry. Why didn't anybody notify him or anyone in Angel grove about Kimberly. 

"How long ago did this happen?" Tommy asked.

"Eighteen months ago." Jason muttered. "After the accident, Kim stayed in the hospital for two months. She broke her back, and she had to wear a brace for sixteen months."

"You broke your back?!" Tommy exclaimed in great shock. Kim looked up at him and slowly nodded.

"When she was released from the hospital, I made it my responsibility that she went to rehab and got herself better. Fortunately, Kim cooperated and stayed there after I left for Angel Grove."

"So you knew all about this the whole time… and you didn't even say a word!" Tommy yelled.

"I told him not to tell anyone." Kim muttered

"Bull shit! We're your goddamn friends Kimberly! We had the right to know what was going on with you in Florida."

"You didn't need to know anything." Kim replied.

"What?" Tommy replied, confused.

"Look I didn't want any of you guys involved in my complicated life, alright!" Kim snapped back. "I mean, look at how well you've guys come along. And that the way it should be. If I had gotten you guys involved, you would have just gone down with me, and I don't want that!"

"You didn't even write, call or email us…" Tommy replied. "I don't care if your life was fucked up, you never kept in touch."

"Tommy, ease up a little." Jason muttered.

"No! Fuck you, man! You've been here for a year, and you didn't say anything!" Tommy yelled.

"I told you, Kim didn't want me to tell."

"I don't give shit!" Tommy snapped. "I can't believe you two! You know what Kim, I feel sorry for you. What you've gone through must have been tough. But how you dumped me, and never kept in touch with anybody after that; acting as if we never existed to you… maybe you deserved it."

"Excuse me?" Kim sneered, hurt by those words. A burning pain flared in her heart. It was like a stabbing wound with salt poured on top of it. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore, she let them out. 

"Tommy, what the hells wrong with you?" Jason stammered.

"Oh my god, I didn't mean that." Tommy replied, realizing how bitter he had just sounded. "Kim, I'm sorry. I…"

"GET THE HELL OUT!" Kim shouted.

"Kim, I…"

"JUST FUCKING LEAVE, TOMMY!!" Kim shouted again. 

With those words, Tommy knew there was nothing he could say at that moment that could change anything. He grabbed his jacket and walked out the door, leaving Kim crying loudly in Jason's arms.


	7. Chapter 7 Finding A New Start

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Endless Roads

Chapter 7 - Finding a New Start

Three Days later…

Tommy's POV

For days I made repeated visits to Jason's apartment, hoping I could fit in an apology, but no matter how hard I tried, Kim just wouldn't see me. I felt so horrible about what I said. It replayed through my mind like a broken record, making me feel angrier with myself. I guess I was just so furious that I was never informed with what happened to Kimberly, that it led me to say those things. What I said was harsh, and I could feel the impact it had on Kim when I saw her face. There had to be a way for me to apologize to her. I couldn't forgive myself for saying that Kimberly deserved to be in that car accident and get involved with drugs and alcohol. I just had to find a way to let her know that I didn't mean what I said, and so I sat there on my bed thinking of what to do with Kat silently sleeping next to me as I thought.   
When I got home that night three days ago, Kat kept bugging me about why I came home so late. I wanted to tell her what I had just found out, but I wasn't sure if I should of. I already got Kim upset; I didn't want her to get even more upset for me telling everybody what she kept a secret for so long. So I told Kat that I stayed over for dinner at Jason's. It set her off a little bit because she wasn't invited, but I told her it was her problem because she didn't want to go out for coffee that morning. I hated when Kat and I had arguments like that. It just made things uncomfortable for us when we were in bed at night. She'd just ignore me and not talk at all, facing her back towards me as I tried to apologize for whatever we fought about. And we did that exact thing that night. I was tempted to say to her that Kim told me the truth about what happened to her, but I knew I couldn't do it.   
_______________________________________________

Kim sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hands. She silently looked out the apartment window, staring at the busy streets of Angel Grove. All that went through her mind was the night she told Tommy everything, the awful thing that he said to her, and the way she exploded at him. Tommy finally knew the truth. The one thing that she was set out to do was finally over, and deep inside she didn't know what to do next. She ignored Tommy because she was too embarrassed to show her face. Jason had heard that Tommy was thinking Kim was just mad at him, but the truth was she wasn't mad, more like confused; confused at what was her next move. 

"Kim?" Jason replied.

"Yeah?" a startled Kimberly responded.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?"

"What for?"

"Uh hello! You did say that Lacey's flight comes in today, didn't you."

"Oh! Yeah… I guess I've just been a little distracted." Kim rubbed her eyes.

"A little?" Jason raised his brow.

"Okay, a lot." Kim admitted. "I just can't stop thinking that Tommy knows now… he knows everything."

"Kim, its no big deal."

"No big deal? You think this is no big deal, you don't know what I've been through, Jason!" Kimberly snapped. "You may have been there for me, you may have known all my secrets, but never was I convinced that you knew what I was going through."

"Okay, so maybe I don't know what you've been through, but I do know that you've been taking things way more seriously than they seem."

"What, you think I'm exaggerating?"

"No, I just meant that you blame yourself for Craig's death, but it wasn't your fault. I've told you this a million times, if you weren't the one driving you would have been dead as well. And the way you think that after all that you've been through your world is over… well it's not. Okay, 'cause you've spent almost a year in rehab and getting yourself better again. Rehab is all about starting over… and you can start over. You can be the person you once were, but you just won't let that happen…"

"That's not true!" Kim snapped.

"It is… I tell you this over and over again, but it just doesn't seem to get to you. You can be the old Kimberly. You just don't try. I see you, and all you do is watch other people's lives go well, but you don't do anything to yours."

"I did do something."

"Oh yeah, and what was that?"

"I came here didn't I?"

"And what else do you expect to do?"

Kim remained silent. Jason just stared at her and raised his brow.

"See my point." He said.

"You know I think back to the way I used to be… I was a completely different person." She replied. "That old Kimberly is the person Tommy knew, and the one that he was in love with. And telling him what I went through must have hurt him completely, knowing that the Kimberly he knew is gone."

"The old Kimberly isn't gone. The Kimberly you were in Florida is gone. Like I said… you can be that old Kimberly again."

"It's not that simple." She shook her head.

"It may not be, but it beats not doing anything." Jason muttered. "In fact, you've already started, you came back here."

"Well what do I do next then?" Kim whispered.

"Well first we gotta go pick up Lacey." He smiled. "But after that, I suggest you tell Tommy that you're not mad at him, 'cause he's just been walking around everywhere thinking that you hate his guts."

Kim laughed. "He still thinks I'm mad at him?"

"Yeah."  
___________________________________________

****

At the airport…

Jason's POV

I was nervous as hell as I stood at the arrival's gate in the airport. The thought that Lacey was coming here freaked me out. I knew that once I let her go it would have been too painful for me to see her again. That's why I remained in Angel Grove because I thought that it would be my only escape from seeing her again. Leaving her may have been the biggest mistake of my like, but I knew I had to come back here. I was gone for almost seven years. I missed my friends, I missed my family, but when I came back; I missed Lacey the most. Then one day Kim called me. She told me Lacey was moving on and started a new relationship with Trent. The pain to hear the news was unbearable. So I decided that I was going to stay here in Angel Grove indefinitely. Keeping my distance away from anything to do with Lacey helped. But now she was coming here! Here, to Angel Grove, and she was going to be staying in MY apartment. I could recall the argument that Kim and I had when she told me that Lacey was coming. I completely freaked out when I heard that she arranged for Lacey to stay at my place. What bugged me the most, was that I knew that Kim arranged it on purpose. I told her that I missed Lacey, and she deliberately planned for Lacey to stay there.   
But I couldn't stay mad at Kimberly; she was going through her problems too. Now that Tommy knew what happened it was time for her to tell the rest of them. What I couldn't get over, was how Tommy reacted like a jerk saying that Kim deserved what she went through. It was completely uncalled for, I never imagined Tommy saying something that harsh to her. And when he left, Kim totally fell apart. She told me how she regretted even coming back here, and then cried herself to sleep that night. I'd give an arm and a leg just so Kim's life could get back to being normal again. I remember when I first came to Florida, and found out what Kim was doing, I'd sit by myself and just think things over. I'd just sit alone somewhere and be stunned at what was going on. It took a long time for me to be able to face the fact that Kim's life was a serious problem. But at that point, I was too late. Kim already had been kicked off the team and months after the car accident happened. When I heard about it, that's when I was convinced that Kim needed to get help. So right after her recovery in the hospital, I took her to rehab. I really didn't want to leave while Kim was in the middle of it, because she needed my support. But when I talked to Lacey, she promised me she'd be there for her. And months later, I got a call from Kim. It was the greatest news I'd ever heard. She had recovered and was feeling a lot better about herself; a lot better; that she decided it was about time she came back to Angel Grove. But noticing how she was acting now, she didn't seem all that better. She still blamed herself, she still couldn't admit that she could start over… she still felt for sorry for herself. And what scared me was that if she kept up being like the way she was she might end up doing drugs and alcohol all over again. So my biggest hope was once Lacey arrived it would make Kim feel better.  
Suddenly Kim squealed, and I knew that Lacey had just came out. My heart started racing. I didn't know whether to walk towards her or turn around. But soon enough, my eyes met hers. The same light brown eyes, long black hair and her brightening smile. She looked exactly the same when I left her. And it made me feel even worse. She was the same beautiful girl that I fell in love with, and she was standing right in front of me.

________________________________

"Lace! Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're here!" Kim squealed, giving her a huge hug. 

"Trust me, I feel exactly the same." Lacey muttered. "Anywhere is better than being in Miami."

"Well you'll definitely be safe here."

"Hey." Jason replied softly.

Lacey turned her head towards him and gave him a blank stare. She could see how uncomfortable Jason might have felt, in fact, she was a little uncomfortable about it too.

"Hey…" she muttered.

"So Lace…" Kim butted in, staring at her luggage. "Is this you're stuff?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, you sure don't travel light."

"That's 'cause I don't plan to go back to Miami any time soon. So I took everything."

"What?" Jason blurted out. "How long are you planning on staying here?"

"As long as it takes. There is no way in hell I'm going back there if Trent is."

"He got out?" Kim asked.

Lacey nodded.

"Who paid his bail?" Jason asked.

"His brother Dan…" Kim replied.

"Man, that dude is all about trouble. I knew he would get himself into shit one day and it finally happened. Alleluia!" 

"Yeah well as long as I'm on this side of the country and he's on the other, I'll be fine." Lacey smiled.

"Well why don't we get out of here." Kim said giddily. "We'll talk on the way."

"On the way where?" Lacey asked.

"Jason's place." Kim smiled, looking over at Jason, who gave her a mean glare back.  
______________________________

****

Driving in the car on their way to the apartment…  


"So this is Angle Grove." Lacey Chastenburg replied, sitting in the passenger's seat in Jason's Explorer.

"Yeah it doesn't really add up to Florida expectations does it." Jason muttered, keeping his eyes on the road.

"No, but it is cute."

"Cute?" Kim replied, from the back of the car.

"The small city thing… you know."

"Gotcha." Kim nodded.

"So what do you guys have planned for me tonight?" Lacey asked.

"Huh?" Jason mumbled.

"Well obviously I'm gonna have to meet all your friends, why not tonight?"

"Well I guess we could all do something tonight." Kim replied. "You think all the guys will be available for tonight Jase?"

"I know Rocky, Billy and Aisha will be." Jason answered. "I talked to Rocky yesterday, they said that they were thinking about going to see a movie or something."

"You in for a movie?" Kim asked, looking over at Lacey.

Lacey scrunched up her face and shook her head.

"How about Glitters?" Jason replied.

"What's Glitters?" Lacey asked.

"It's a club." Kim answered.

"Clubbing! Now that's something I'm in the mood for."

"Me too." Kim smiled.

"Alright I'll go make the call." Jason replied, and reached for his cell in his jacket pocket.

"Who you calling?" Kim asked.

"You're favorite person." He muttered, as he dialed. Kim stayed silent in the back of the car, as she watched Jason waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. Lacey noticed the silent Kim sitting behind her and was full of curiosity. 

"So who's this favorite person?" she turned to ask.

"You should know."

"Oh… what's his name…. Teddy?"

"Tommy!" Jason exclaimed. "Hey man, what's up?"

"My mistake." Lacey mumbled. "So have you told anyone yet?"

"Yeah… I told _him_." Kim responded, as Jason continued chatting away with Tommy while driving.

"Everything?"

"Yeah… every detail."

"So how did he take it?"

"The way I expected him to. He was completely furious."

"Tommy says hi you guys." Jason interrupted. Kim and Lacey nodded back.

"Furious huh? Did he say anything?"

"I'll tell you this, he was a complete jerk." Kim whispered, keeping her voice down so it wouldn't pick up on Jason's phone.

"Why?"

"Well according to him, noting the way I dumped him, and the way I never really kept in touch with anyone, he said that I deserved it."

"Excuse me?"

"My words exactly."

"Jason could I have the phone please." Lacey said immediately.

"What?" Jason replied, in confusion. He didn't have time to pass the phone to her. Lacey had already grabbed it out of his hands.

"Hi… this Tommy?" Lacey politely replied. "Hi, Lacey Chastenburg here, I'm a friend of Jason's and Kim's. Anyway, I just learned a little something you said to Kim, and I would just like to ask you a question." She started to talk bitterly. "Has anyone come up to you today and called asshole? … No? Okay well I AM! Saying that Kim deserved what she's been through can only come from someone who is truly retarded! You are fucking messed in the head. So why don't you shove your foot up your ass and think twice the next time you open that mouth of yours, okay?"

Kim and Jason were shocked to here Lacey's sudden outburst. It came out of no where, but it was kind of funny. Kim's stunned face slowly turned into a smile as she started to chuckle. Jason looked in the rear view mirror to see Kim's face red of laughter. He slowly took the phone out of Lacey's hands and put it up to his ear.

"Hey, Tommy?" He replied. "Sorry about that."   
__________________________________________

Author's note:

Sorry for the late update guys… I just came back from a vacation, but I'm back on track!!  
Well anyways, I hope you liked this chapter… it didn't really have Tommy/Kim action, but I   
promise there will be more… AND PLEASE keep up with the reviewing!! There's no use to  
go on if no one reviews. lol!! 


	8. Chapter 8 Causing More Problems

****

Endless Roads

Chapter 8 - Causing More Problems

Kat's POV

I walked into the living room to see Tommy talking on the phone again. I immediately knew that he was talking to Jason. For some weird reason, Jason seemed to be the only one calling us for the two past weeks. It annoyed me, because every time he called it always led to being invited somewhere. And most likely it was for Kimberly's sake, since she _just_ came back to Angel Grove and suddenly everybody wanted to do something. I just couldn't stand the way all the guys treated her, like she was some sort of queen that needed to be constantly entertained. And that was the last thing on earth that I would ever do. But that's what sucked about having friends who were friends with a person that could possibly be your worst enemy. 

"Hey, Kat!" Tommy yelled out.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"You in the mood to go to Glitters tonight?" he asked. 

I gave him a glare. Of course I didn't want to go… especially at a club where girls dressed trampy, showing off their newly enhanced boobs, and shaking their asses everywhere just to get men's attention. It wasn't my style, but for some reason all the other guys loved to go, so usually I'd just tag along. And every now and then, I'd always see Tommy's wandering eyes… which annoyed the hell out of me, and now with Kimberly there, there was no way I was going to risk that.

"So you want to go or what?" Tommy asked again. 

"Tommy, are you sure it's a good idea to go out tonight?" I responded.

"Why wouldn't it be?" 

"Well you work tomorrow, and I'm sure if we go we won't come home until late…"

"Kat, that's not a problem." He interrupted. "I don't start until one, Dan's opening the shop tomorrow morning."

__

"Damn." I thought to myself. What else could I use for an excuse?

"Kat, come on. What's it gonna be?" Tommy replied.

I couldn't think of another excuse without sounding bitter. I looked at his face and I could see that he really wanted to go. And that face always made me give in… it worked every time. So I regretfully made the decision. "Yeah…" I replied.

"Okay cool." He smiled, and quickly went back on the phone. "Hey Jason, we'll meet you there around eight, alright?" He replied, as I made my way to the kitchen. This evening was not going to be an enjoyable one.  
____________________________________________

****

Tommy's POV

There was only one way that I was going to be able enjoy tonight, and that was to get myself on Kim's good list again. I wasn't going to give up until I had my chance to apologize to her. When Jason told me that he, along with Kim and their friend Lacey were heading back to his place, I found it to be the perfect opportunity for me to deliver my apology. I rushed through my closet, put a good shirt on and made my way towards the door.

"Tommy, where you going?" Kat asked, as I grabbed the doorknob. I turned over and looked at her as she stood by the doorway of the kitchen.

"Uh… I was just about to go run an errand… why?"

"I though we were going out tonight?" She replied.

"We are." I answered. "I'll be back soon. It's not gonna take long."

"Alright…" Kat replied a bit skeptical.

"Kay… see ya babe." I quickly said, and rushed out the door.  
____________________________________________

****

After a long drive from the airport…

Jason, Kim and Lacey finally arrived at the apartment complex. They took a bunch of boxes, and brought them up to the hall in front Jason's apartment. Kimberly was exhausted, her arms aching from carrying too much weight, but she managed to dig into her purse, got the keys, and quickly opened the door.

"Seriously Lace, you brought way too much stuff." Jason managed to say, lifting up some boxes from the hallway into his living room.

"Oh go cry over it, you baby." Lacey snapped, as she made her way inside his apartment. Once she got in, she checked out the rooms. "Wow, I gotta say Jason, you've held up this place really good."

"Yeah, and you can stay in it, if you help me out with you stuff!" Jason replied.

"Alright, alright." Lacey sighed.

"Hey Lacey, me and Jason set up a bed in my room for ya, so you can set most of your stuff in there." Kim replied, bringing in more bags.

"Sounds good."

"Okay cool." Kim replied as she set the bags down on the floor. "So, is this pretty much it?" 

"No, there's a couple more back at the car… I'll go get them." Jason replied, and started walking down the hallway.

"Hey Jason!" Kim called out.

"Yeah?"

"Elevator's this way, buddy." Kim said, pointing at the opposite direction.

"Yeah I know… I'm gonna take the stairs."

"Okay, Mister high in fitness." Kim saluted and turned to look at her friend. "So what do ya think?" she asked.

"Think of what?" Lacey muttered, while opening up one of her suitcases.

"Jason's place…"

"Oh." She chuckled. "I'm surprised," Lacey said, commenting on how neat the place was. "I don't know how he did it."

"What? How neat it is… believe me, it wasn't like this when I got here."

"That explains it perfectly." The two laughed.

Kim looked down at Lacey's open suitcase, and couldn't help but notice something shiny hidden under a layer of clothing. She bent down to take a look and discovered it was a picture of Trent put in a silver frame.

"I guess I should have left that back in Florida, huh?" Lacey replied startling Kimberly.

"Well that all depends." She mumbled.

"On what?"

"On if you still have feelings for him."

"Of course not!" Lacey exclaimed. "After all that's been happening? If the situation wasn't bad, I wouldn't have come here."

"I know." Kim replied softly.

"I guess I'm kind of like you in a way Kim." Lacey muttered. "I came here… to start over, get away from the hell that exists back there."

"You mean your staying here indefinitely?"

Lacey nodded. "But don't tell Jason, please."

"I won't." Kim promised her.

"I'll only stay here for at least a two months… maybe one if I'm lucky."

"What do you intend on doing?"

"First off, I'm going to find me a job." Lacey explained. "Then, a new place to live." She paused. "I'm starting over, Kim. I'm making a new beginning for me."

"God, stop talking like that Lace!" Kim yelled.

"Like what?" She replied, a bit startled at Kim's tone of voice.

"Like you've been through hell!" Kim yelled again. "Because you haven't… you talk like what Trent was doing was a complete nightmare, when we know that all the dude did was place some bets and getting in shit for it."

"Kim…" Lacey mumbled.

"I'm the one who's suffering here!" She interrupted. "I made the stupid mistakes… so I should be the one starting over, MAKING A NEW BEGINNING FOR ME!" Kim continued to yell.

"Kim… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"Lacey, you have no idea how lucky you are…" Kim interrupted her again. "So don't think that your life was hell back there, because it wasn't. You don't deserve to put yourself down like that."

"I'm really sorry." Lacey muttered.

"Just forget it…" Kim shook her head. "It's all in the past."

"Kim…" Lacey mumbled again, staring at the door behind her.

Suddenly Kim heard a quiet knock at the door. She turned around to see who made the noise, and to her surprise there was indeed someone standing at the doorway.

"Tommy, what the hell you are you doing here?" Kim asked.

"I guess I came at a bad time." Tommy muttered.

"Yeah… you kind of did." Kim stammered. "You didn't answer me…what the hell do you want?"

"I need to talk to you." He replied.

"Oh really? What, you got more horrible things to say to me now?" Kim hissed.

"Kim, please… can I talk to you." He replied, and looked up to see Lacey standing behind Kim in the living room. "Alone?"

"No… whatever you have to say you can say in front of Lacey." 

"Alright… look, I just came by to say I'm sorry." Tommy replied.

"You're sorry?" Kim quirked a brow. "Wow Tommy… haven't heard that one before."

"Kim, I'm serious. I wasn't thinking when I said what I said to you."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes I do, because it's the truth. I didn't mean any of it."

"How do I know you're being sincere?"

"Look, all I know is that I am… Kim I don't want you to hate me forever."

"Well what you said did really hurt."

"I know it must have, but I told you I didn't mean it. I guess I was just really mad that you never told me anything about what happened… I didn't think straight, and that led me to say what I said… I wasn't thinking."

"Damn, is this dude for real?" Lacey butted in.

"Lacey, shutup." Kim snapped.

"This sounds like some cheesy dialogue ripped of from Days of Our Lives or something." She laughed.

"Okay… maybe you should go. Get lost Lace." Kim replied. 

"Fine." Lacey muttered, picked up a few things and headed towards her room, while Kim and Tommy watched as she went.

"So you got anything else to say?" Kim replied sternly, turning back to Tommy.

"Nope."

"Tommy listen." Kim replied. "I want to put my past behind me. That's the whole reason why I came back here… so we'll make it a deal. I'll forgive you if you promise not to bring this up again."

"Really?" Tommy muttered.

"Yeah." Kim rolled her eyes, as a smile started to form on Tommy's face. 

"Okay." He nodded. "Deal."

"But don't get too happy." Kim hissed again. "Don't expect me to forget what you said."

"That's fine with me." Tommy nodded, and looked over to see Lacey peek her head around the corner. "Hi, I'm Tommy Oliver."

Lacey slowly walked out, surprised that she was seen. "Lacey Chastenburg." She smiled.

"Right… the girl that talked to me on the phone earlier." Tommy blushed.

"That's right… sorry about that, but I speak my mind."

"I can tell." Tommy muttered. 

"Can someone help me out here please." A voiced yelled out from the hallway. Tommy turned around and headed over to see Jason putting a few suitcases down.

"Tommy? What are you doing here?" Jason asked.

"Just thought I'd stop by." Tommy replied. "Do you… need a hand?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Jason sneered, looking over at Lacey, who started to walk down the hall to where he was.

"Hey, you're the one who went downstairs to your car… I would have done it if you didn't beat me to the opportunity." She replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, now get out of the way so I can get this stuff in."

___________________________________________________

****

Later at Glitterz…

Jason stepped out of his car, along with Kim, Lacey and Aisha. Even though a little steam was still inside of Kim from earlier that day, she wasn't going to let that bug her that night. Aisha finally had time off to hang with the group, and Kim was going to make sure she and Aisha had fun tonight.

Kim hurried over to the entrance of the club, with Lacey and Aisha along her side. It brought a smile to Kim's face to see the two of her closest friends, who had just met for the first time, were getting along so well. Kim looked over to see a huge group of people crowding around the entrance door, waiting to get in. Immediately, she noticed a familiar group of six standing in the crowd. The first person that caught her attention had her bright blond hair up in a bun. It wasn't hard to notice, since the moonlight reflected off it so well. It was Kat whom she saw, and not to mention clinging onto the arm of a tall individual, namely Tommy. It never occurred to her how lame the couple's display was, and she definitely did not want to look at that again. She then looked beyond them and noticed Rocky and Billy standing in line with Adam and Tanya. Seeing Rocky and Billy again made her excited since she hadn't seen them since the first day she came back. Kim began to run over, ignoring the fact that she had four-inch heels on. A huge smile appeared upon her face now that she realized everyone was here.

"Oh my god! I'm so glad you guys came!" Kim squealed, hugging Rocky and Billy.

"Glad to see you too, Kim." Billy replied.

"Everybody…" Kim turned, grabbing Lacey by the wrist. "This is my friend Lacey Chastenburg from Florida."

"Hi." Rocky replied, shaking her hand.

"Lace, this is Rocky, Billy, Adam, Tanya, Kat and I'm sure you already know Tommy."  
_____________________________________________________

****

Kat's POV

__

"I'm sure you already know Tommy?" What was that supposed to mean. I didn't remember meeting or hearing about this Lacey character. I turned my head to Tommy and gave him a bit of a glare. I could see he knew what I was thinking and he shook his head to ensure that it was nothing. I looked at her, and I could see a bit of a snobbish characteristic in her. I knew that from the beginning I wasn't going to like her.

"Gosh, you guys, this is so great that you all came." I heard Kim say. I rolled my eyes at her comment. Before, we never really did the whole get together thing that much, and from that moment I could feel that more of these would happen. I was all for it, but not with Kim around, especially with what she was wearing. I looked at her starting from the feet. She wore these black knee high boots, a faded denim skirt and a black low cut halter top, showing a lot of cleavage. Her hair was made into tight shiny curls, framing her face perfectly. Her makeup looked like it had been done by a professional makeup artist. The eyeshadow nicely blended together, her brows perfectly shaped, and her lips covered with shiny pink gloss. In my eyes, she was another typical skank that went to these clubs to flirt with any guy that was good looking. I could say the same for that girl Lacey as well. It must have been a thing back in Florida. But what bugged me the most was that Tommy was looking at their slutty display. 

"Gees, would you look at this crowd?" Lacey asked. "Damn, it's gonna take forever before we get into this joint."

"It goes fast, don't worry Lace." Jason replied.

Fifteen minutes later, we all made it inside of Glitterz. Jason insisted that we get a table first. When Kim took her seat, I made sure and Tommy and I were at a good distance away from her. God knows what I would do if I had to listen to her bullshit. Jason came back with tray full of margaritas for us, which was really sweet of him, but he knew that I didn't drink. I hated when Tommy would get drunk with the guys. They always acted stupid and arrogant, and it annoyed the hell out of me. That was one of the reasons why I didn't really come along with them here often.   
______________________________________________________

After a short while of talking and drinking, a familiar beat of a song played, which got the attention of Lacey. 

"Oh my god! I LOVE this song!" She exclaimed. "Come on Kim," She said grabbing her arm. "Let's show them how it's done back in Miami."

The two rushed onto the dance floor and started shaking their hips to the music, while waving their arms in the air. Soon after, Aisha, Jason, Adam and Tanya joined them.

"Hey, we're gonna go roam around… maybe collect some phone numbers if we're lucky." Rocky replied, as he and Billy got up from their seats and headed towards the bar. Tommy and Kat remained in their seats. 

"You want to go dance?" Tommy asked. Kat looked up at him and shook her head.

"I'd rather not." Kat replied.

Tommy noticed the displeasure in her voice. "Listen… do you even want to be here?" He asked.

"Don't be silly, Tommy. Of course I do… I'm just not in the mood for dancing right now that's all." She replied.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, a bit skeptical.

"Yes." Kat insisted. "Relax Tommy. Let's just sit here and…"

"And what?" Tommy asked.

"And… enjoy our margaritas." She smiled.

The two then continued sitting at the table, talking away about what they were going to do over the weekend. From the dance floor Kim could see them sitting there. She didn't understand why they wouldn't come onto the dance floor. But whatever their reason, Kim wasn't going to let that bother her. She the turned around and continued dancing. Seeing the enjoyment on her friends' faces made her happy, happier than she had ever been for in awhile. At that moment she knew that coming back to Angel Grove was the right thing to do. But suddenly, when she turned around to see where Jason was, she felt a little weak in the knee, a bit dizzy and toppled over onto Aisha.

"Whoa, Kim! Are you okay?" Aisha asked, as she caught Kim before she reached the floor. 

Kim took a deep breath a realized that she was no longer standing on her feet. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, and got herself back up.

"Yeah… I'm fine." She softly replied. "I just got a little dizzy… that's all."

"Are you sure?" Aisha asked. "Maybe you should sit down… drink some water, or something."

"No it's okay Aisha… I think I should just step outside and get some fresh air." 

"Okay, I'll come with you."

"No, don't do that." Kim replied. "Don't ruin your night because of me."

"Kim, it's okay." Aisha insisted.

"Aisha, I'm fine. Don't worry about me okay. I can go outside by myself, it's no big deal."

"Okay…" Aisha said, a bit skeptical.

Kim made her way out the door, but not without getting the attention of Tommy, who was still at the table sitting with Kat. He became very curious as to why Kim left the club and he immediately stood up to find out.

"Where you going?" Kat asked.

Tommy looked down at Kat. He couldn't tell her that he was going outside to go after Kim, he already felt a vibe off of her that she wasn't enjoying Kim's presence back in Angel Grove.

"I forgot something back at the car… I'll be back." He replied.

"Okay…" Kat muttered.

Tommy rushed over to the entrance way and through the door. He immediately looked at all directions looking for Kim. Tommy finally spotted her crouched down to the ground, leaning against the building and resting her forehead against her knees. He slowly walked up to her, wondering why on earth she rushed outside by herself.

"Kim?" he quietly muttered.

She lifted her head up to see who it was. As soon as she saw Tommy, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Go away." She replied.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Then how come you went rushing outside, and I see you sitting here in the parking lot by yourself."

"I just went outside to get some fresh air alright?" Kim said, standing herself up. "You happy now?"

"You alright?" Tommy asked.

"God! YES! Yes, I'm fine." Kim stammered.

"Ok." Tommy replied. "Just chill, I was only asking."

"Well do yourself a favor, and forget about it, okay?" Kim said. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"Alright." Tommy nodded. "I'll go then."

"Good." Kim rolled her eyes, as Tommy turned around and re-entered the club. Kim gave out a big sigh and thought to herself, asking why she acted the way she did. It felt like it was a basic instinct for her to act defensively against him. The more she thought about it, the more she felt bad that she snapped at him the way she did. 

__

"I probably got him upset." She thought to herself, shutting her eyes, ashamed of her actions. Suddenly she realized that the one thing she didn't want happening that night was indeed happening. She was letting things bother her, making her feel down, when she promised herself that she wouldn't. This was a night for her to enjoy, a night for her to have fun with all of her friends and yet she still let stress get to her as well as Tommy's curiosity.

__

"Kay, forget about it Kim." She continued to think_. "Just go back in there and have fun." _She slowly nodded, took a few deep breaths and made her way inside and back onto the dance floor. 

Kat watched as Kim joined back in with the others. Watching them all dance, while sitting by herself wasn't what she intended for tonight.

__

"Where the hell is Tommy?" she thought, turning around looking for him. She saw Rocky at the bar talking to a mysterious red head, while Billy chatted away with the bartender probably ordering another drink. She turned back to the dance floor. Jason, Kim, Tanya, Adam, Aisha and Lacey were all there, and yet there was no sign of Tommy anywhere. She started to worry and soon stood up. She decided she'd walk around to look for him.

Suddenly she spotted him walking by the bar chatting a bit with Billy.

"Tommy!" she yelled out, waving at him. Tommy spotted her and made his way over to her.

"Hey." He said as he gave Kat a quick kiss on the lips.

"Where did you go?" Kat asked.

"Oh took a quick stop to the washroom." Tommy replied.

"So what did you forget at the car."

"Oh, I just had this feeling I left the lights on, but I was wrong."

"Why did you take so long?" Kat asked.

"Kat, I didn't take that long, relax."

"Relax! How the hell are you supposed to except me to relax when you left me all alone at that table?" Kat snapped.

"Well why didn't you join the others if you didn't want to be alone?"

"I told you Tommy, I don't feel like dancing tonight."

"Kat, I'm sorry… alright. Let's just forget about this and sit down." Tommy replied, and the two walked toward their table.

"Are you sure you don't want to go dance?"

Kat just gave him a blank stare.

"Oh come on Kat, have some fun."

"Speaking of fun, check them out." Kat replied pointing at Kim, Jason, Lacey and Aisha on the dance floor. The two of them continued talking at the table, while the rest of them danced the night away.

"Hmm… Kim just seems to go to guy after guy doesn't she?" Kat replied. Tommy looked over to see Kim getting freaky with a guy she didn't even know. It got Tommy a little upset, the guy was all over her and Kim did nothing about it. The two just kept dancing. The sight was just too much for Tommy to handle, so he turned around and paid attention to something else. Kat could see jealousy written all over Tommy's face, and that upset her a whole lot. Soon after, the two could hear loud cheers coming for the dance floor. Tommy turned around again, and saw the look of enjoyment all over Kim's face with Lacey, Aisha, Tanya and the guys dancing behind her, having a good time. Tommy couldn't stand the look of seeing Kim dancing with that stranger. He could see the guys' hands starting to wander lower down Kim's body, which started pulling her more towards him. That finally set Tommy off, and he immediately stood up and started pushing his way through the crowd towards Kim. He quickly pushed away the guy dancing with her, and grabbed Kim's arm.

"OW! What's your fucking problem!" Kim shouted. 

"My problem! What's yours? You don't even know this guy!" Tommy shouted back.

"We were just dancing you dumb shit!" Kim yelled, hit his arm.

"HEY! What's going on here?" Jason asked as he made his way towards Tommy and Kim, with Rocky, Billy and Adam behind him.

"Nothing! Tommy's just being a jackass!" Kim answered. "Let go of me!" She yelled as she quickly pulled back her arm.

"Kim you're coming with me." Tommy said grabbing back her arm.

"What are you, my father? Let me go!" Kim stammered, pulling back.

"You guys don't make a scene!" Aisha came over. "Tommy just leave Kim alone."

"Exactly! Now let go of me!" Kim yelled.

"Kim just shutup!" Tommy snapped which caught Kim by surprise. 

"Hey let go of her man, you're hurting her." Jason yelled out. Tommy looked at what he was doing. He looked down at his hand that clutched onto Kim's wrist. He quickly let go, astonished at what he had done.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Tommy replied staring back at Kim.

"Fuck!" Kim replied, rubbing her arm to make it feel better. She gave Tommy a big frown, wondering why he acted like that.

"Kim, really… I'm really sorry."

"Oh you're sorry again? What, you weren't thinking before you acted, is that it?"

"Kim…"

"NO! This is exactly what happened three days ago… and I am sick and tired of taking your shit! So why don't you just leave me the fuck alone!"

"Kim… I think we better go." Lacey butted in. "Everyone's looking at us."

The group all turned to see all eyes staring at them, which made them feel very awkward.

"I think I'm gonna go too." Adam replied. "Tanya, you coming?"

"Yeah." Tanya replied, giving a little glare at Tommy.

Kim and Lacey started walking towards the exit, with Adam and Tanya following behind. Jason stood in front of Tommy with disappointment.

"She was just having some fun man." Jason replied, and started making his way to the exit of the club, with Aisha, Rocky and Billy following him from behind. Kat stood beside Tommy and ringed her arms with his.

"Tommy let's go." She whispered. Tommy nodded staying silent. He had no idea why he acted the way he did. The two continued walking out of the club, and into the parking lot. There, Tommy could see Kim, Lacey, Aisha and Billy getting into Jason's Explorer. Kim looked back at Tommy still frowning. Tommy turned his head to see Adam, Tanya and Rocky getting into Adam's car. They all looked at him like he was a criminal. He quickly took his keys out of his pocket and opened the car door for Kat. He felt really uncomfortable knowing that all eight of them watched him as he got into his car. Once he got in, he gave out a big sigh.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Kat scolded.

"God, I really don't need this from you Kat." Tommy answered as he started his engine.

"Well you're gonna hear it anyway." Kat stammered. "Kim is a big girl, she doesn't need you protecting her."

"What did you expect me to do? Just leave her alone. The guy was all over her." Tommy raised his voice.

"Tommy I seriously think you should stay away from her." Kat whispered.

"What?"

"Look if she is ever in danger, she has Jason, Adam, Billy, or Rocky to help her. She doesn't need you." Kat explained.

"What are you saying?" Tommy replied, in disbelief. 

"Look, I just don't understand why you still care about her, even when she dumped you straight in the dumpster for another guy." Kat replied.

"Kat, me and Kim have known each other for years. I can't just all off a sudden not care for her." Tommy replied. The two were silent. Tommy didn't notice it, but Kat was hurt from what he said. After all those years that she and Tommy had been together, she thought his feelings for Kim would be gone by now. But Kim just had to come back, and since then she could feel her and Tommy slowly growing apart. She looked at Tommy, as he continued driving. Suddenly she felt her biggest fear was coming true, because he would have never acted the way he did, if he wasn't still in love with Kim. But she wasn't just gonna sit there and watch her dreams fall apart. She was going to do everything that it took to prevent what she feared from happening.


	9. Chapter 9 Telling The Others

****

Comments & Reminders To those who don't like how the Kim character is developing… I have to remind you that in this story Kim is a changed her person. This is how I want to portray her. And I apologize if people are offended by the swearing, but its just part of how the story is. So if you are offended by swearing then DON'T read. I've been getting a lot of complaints… which really makes me not want to complete this story, but I am going to try my best to finish it because I've gotten so far and it wouldn't want to just leave it incomplete. Also, there IS Kat bashing in this story, so if you DO like her then DON'T read this story.

****

Endless Roads

Chapter 9 - Telling the Others

One week later…

It was a bright sunny afternoon in Angel Grove, and Kim decided to show Lacey the best part of town: the shopping. As they walked down the sidewalks checking out Kim's favorite stores, the topic of the incident last week just had to come up. Kim wanted to forget about it, but as curious as Lacey was, she wasn't going to give up until she knew exactly what Tommy's actions meant.

"Why must you think that everything happens for a reason!" Kim exclaimed.

"Because they do." Lacey muttered. "Do not deny it Kim. Tommy stopped you from dancing with that guy 'cause he cared."

"Well so what if he did. It doesn't matter."

"Oh come on, do not tell me that what Tommy did was not a tad sweet."

"If you call embarrassing someone in front of dozens of people sweet, you're completely out of it."

"Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest scenario. Believe me I didn't enjoy it either, but if you think about it… he saw you with this guy, and he immediately came to your rescue, ditching his girlfriend at the table just for you."

"My RESCUE! What the hell are you talking about? I was never in danger." Kim replied. "And where is this coming from, I thought you didn't like Tommy."

"Who said I didn't?"

"Never mind." Kim muttered.

"Kim, I'm serious. Maybe if you would just see things my way, then you wouldn't have to avoid this guy everywhere you go."

"I'm not avoiding him!" Kim exclaimed.

"Yeah… right." Lacey rolled her eyes.

  
"Look! I just think it's better this way. Every time I get him involved in something he always does or says something completely idiotic, and then I get mad. All I'm saying is that if he'd just stay away from me then everything would be fine, but noting the fact that we share the same friends that's going to be completely impossible."

"So what do you plan on doing?"

"Simple. I'm going to stay away from him."

"But Kim…"

"Lace." Kim interrupted. "Give it up. You're not going to change my mind."

"Fine. Whatever."

"Besides, Tommy is the least of my worries. Right now, I should be worrying about telling everybody else about myself."

"You still haven't told them?"

"No." Kim shook her head.

"So when _do_ you plan on telling them?" Lacey asked.

"I don't know. " Kim sighed, sitting herself down on a sidewalk bench. "I keep trying to push myself to tell someone, but I just can't find the guts to do it."

"You had the guts to tell Tommy…"

"That was different. I didn't intend on telling him, he just happened to over hear a conversation I had with Jason and I no choice but to."

"So who does know so far?"

"Well only you, Jason and Tommy." Kim replied. "And did I mention the hell I went through when I told Tommy?"

"Yeah." Lacey nodded.

"I'm just really scared that they're gonna have the same reaction that Tommy did."

"But didn't he apologize?" Lacey wondered. "I do recall him coming over to the apartment, convincing you that he didn't mean what he said."

"But that doesn't erase what he said." Kim shook her head. "Even if he didn't mean it, he still said that I deserved it, and that's something I can never get over."

"Well I have to admit… that was kind of harsh." Lacey replied. "But when we were all at the club, when you and Tommy were still on 'good terms', I could see how much you enjoyed your time, Kim."

Kim gave a little chuckle. "Kay, Lace. You're getting a little too sappy for me."

"Sorry." Lacey laughed. "But it's true. You've gotta learn to get over it, 'cause it's just eating you up inside."

"Yeah well… it's nothing I can't handle." Kim muttered.

"Fine, suit yourself."

As Kim and Lacey continued on with their conversation, a familiar person began to make way from behind them. He slowly walked up to the girls, making sure that he wasn't seen. With the sounds of laughter he then finally decided to give the two a surprise. 

"Boo!" He jumped out, startling Kim and Lacey.

"Rocky!" Kim exclaimed. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry." Rocky chuckled, as he noticed the many bags that were held in Kim and Lacey's hands. "I see you two have been shopping?"

"A lot of shopping, I may add." Lacey said.

"I can tell." He nodded, as Kim and Lacey got up from the sidewalk bench.

"So what have you been up to, Mr. De Santos?" Kim asked.

"Oh, just went around, paid some bills… you know, all the exciting stuff."

"Yeah, you're life is just full of thrills ain't it?" She mumbled.

"You calling me boring?"

"What if I am?"

"Hey, hey, hey." Lacey barged in. "No fighting." She laughed.

"So what else do you fine ladies have planned for today?" he asked.

"Oh nothing much." Lacey replied. "Kimberly here decided to show me around town some more."

"Well I'll tell you right now Lacey, there's nothing much to see."

"Way to be positive Rock-o." Kim muttered.

"Hey, I'm being honest. Nothing wrong with that."

"Sure." Kim rolled her eyes.

"So you guys have no plans for tonight?" Rocky asked.

"No… why? You have something in mind?"

"As a matter of fact I do." 

"Oh really? And what is that." Kim replied.

"I'm having a little party tonight at my place. I saw you guys walking from across the street, so I thought I'd come over and tell you." Rocky smiled.

"Wow, a party at Rocky's already. You _must_ be bored."

"No…" Rocky muttered. "It's just been a while since we last did something, and hey what's better than having a party."

"Rocky you do remember that the last time we got together, it turned out to be a huge nightmare." Kim replied.

"Yeah, well this will be different…"

"How so?" 

"First off I don't intend on inviting strangers you can dance with, that will piss Tommy off."

"Shutup Rocky!" Kim snapped.

"Relax Kim, I was only joking."

"Yeah well that's a joke that is definitely NOT funny."

"Ok, ok." Rocky muttered. "So will you come?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe? I'm not taking a 'maybe'… or a 'no' either."

"Geez, you really are that desperate."

"I never said I was desperate, I just really want you two to come."

"Fine, we'll go." Lacey immediately replied.

"Lacey!" Kim snapped.

"What?" Lacey shrugged. "Oh come on Kim, what's the big deal, it's just a little party at someone's house, what could possibly go wrong?"  
__________________________________

A few hours later Kim dropped off Lacey back at the apartment because she wasn't feeling good, and then headed over to the Starbucks to get herself some coffee. For the past week Kim had been way to caught up with her social problems, that she really needed to take time to herself and just think. So many things were weighing her down, whether it'd be Tommy's behavior, Lacey's annoying curiosity or the pressure she had to tell her friends what happened to her.

Finally when Kim got her coffee, she took a seat by the window near the entrance of the store. She sipped away at her coffee while thinking about everything that was going on in her life. Ever since her talk with Lacey earlier, she couldn't stop thinking that it was about time to tell the rest of the group the truth. Just thinking about it made Kim feel sick. She couldn't do it; it was too hard. Usually Kim wasn't the kind of person to give up on something because it was difficult, but this was something that was far beyond difficult; it was more like a matter of life or death. She couldn't stand the thought of losing her friends that she had known for so long, over her bad choice of direction in her life. If they had the same reaction that Tommy did, she would be doomed. She was more concerned about Billy and Aisha than the others. Besides Jason, she knew Billy the longest. They had gone way back, all the way from first grade. They grew up with each other, doing homework and studying. But what Kim loved the most was that every time she needed someone, Billy was there, and she was there for him. Just the thought of that special bond between them ending made Kim feel at her worst. And Aisha was her best friend all throughout highschool. One thing was for sure, that when Aisha found out, she wouldn't be happy at all. Kim remembered Aisha saying that she had lost one of her favorite aunts to drugs and alcohol. And if Aisha found out that her very own friend messed up her life because of the same reason, there would be no room for remorse. Kim could already hear the lecturing and the scolding in her head. 

But what was different was that Kim got help. She was better now, and was now able to start all over again. And Kim just hoped that that was enough for them to understand. Maybe Rocky's party was a great idea after all. It gave her the perfect opportunity to tell them all the truth, but was Kim ready enough? Was she ready to handle any kind of reaction that she'd get? She continued to think about that, when suddenly a tap on her shoulder interrupted her. Kim turned her head and looked up to a figure that stood tall from behind her. It was Tommy. Kim rolled her eyes and immediately got up from her seat, grabbed her purse and began to make her way out of the store.

"No wait!" Tommy replied, grabbing her by the arm.

Kim looked down at Tommy's hand that clutched on to her. Tommy looked too and was immediately reminded of the incident at the club last week. He quickly let go.

"Don't leave." He muttered. "We really need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you." Kim sneered.

"Yeah, well I do. Now sit." Tommy demanded.

Kim hesitated for a moment, but she was fed up with all the arguing and running away, that she finally decided to sit down.

"So what do you have to say Tommy? That you're sorry, 'cause I've already heard that one from you."

"Look, I know I've used those words probably like a millions times by now, but I can't stress them enough because I really am sorry."

Kim just sat there giving him a blank stare.

"You have no idea the guilt I felt after we all left the club that night."

"I'm sure you felt pretty bad." Kim muttered. "But that's still no excuse for what you did it."

"God! Do you have to be so bitter!" Tommy raised his voice.

"I'm not being bitter! I'm being honest! You completely humiliated me in front of all those people!" Kim exclaimed.

Kim' s voice could be heard throughout the whole café. The two turned to see everybody in the store looking at them.

"Maybe we should take this outside." Tommy whispered. Without a word, Kim quickly grabbed her things and headed out the door. Tommy followed behind her, but Kim didn't stop there. She started heading towards her car, but Tommy stopped her from opening the door.

"You're not going anywhere, we still need to talk."

Kim turned around and gave him a glare. "Well what is it then… what do you want to talk about?" she hissed.

Tommy paused for a moment. "Uh… that's a nice car you have there… where'd you get it?"

"Is that what you want to talk about? 'Cause seriously your wasting my time."

"No… that's not what I have to say."

"Then what is it then?"

"I know you must have been embarrassed that night." Tommy replied. "I was too."

"Well obviously! You acted like a complete jerk!" Kim snapped back.

Tommy shut his eyes taking in the harshness of Kim's comment. "Geez, you're really not gonna make this easy on me, are you."

Kim immediately calmed down and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She muttered. "I'm being a complete bitch aren't I?"

"Well I wouldn't say your not."

"Tommy, it's not that I'm extremely mad at you, it's just I've been going through a lot these days that little things just totally set me off."

"Well it's not your fault. I mean the things I've done… let's just say I can understand why you'd be mad."

"Yeah I guess." Kim replied.

"Can I be perfectly honest with you?" He asked.

Kim stared at him for a few seconds before answering, knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "Go ahead." She nodded.

Tommy paused once again. He was about to completely open up to Kim right there and then. It was something that took a lot of courage. And hopefully it was the right thing to do.

"For the past week, I've just been thinking about why the hell I acted the way I did at the club. Some people were saying that it was just that I wanted to protect you."

"And…" Kim mumbled.

"And I don't think that was it."

"So what was it then?" Kim asked. "Why did you pull me away from that guy."

"It wasn't like I had this feeling to protect you…" Tommy paused. "It was more like a reflex."

"A reflex?" Kim replied with curiosity. "What the hell are you talking about."

Tommy stayed silent.

"Tommy, what are you talking about? What do you mean?"

"You said I could be honest with you, right?" He muttered.

"Yeah." Kim nodded.

"You and me share an interesting past…" Tommy began to say. "A past that I don't think anybody could replicate."

Kim continued on to listen.

"It's just that no matter what you do, or what happens…" Tommy paused again, looking straight into Kim's eyes. "I'm still always going to care for you."

Kim remained silent. The awkward silence made Tommy uncomfortable. He had just opened up himself to Kim, revealing what he felt, and Kim didn't know what to say in return.

"I-I have to go." Kim muttered.

"Is it what I said?" Tommy asked.

"No! No… of course n-not." Kim stuttered. "I just have to… to…."

"Go?" Tommy finished for her.

"Yeah." Kim nodded, quickly grabbing her car keys out of her purse and unlocking her door.

"Are you going to Rocky's tonight?" Tommy asked.

Kim suddenly stopped what she was doing, turned to face Tommy, and nodded.

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you there." He nodded, turned, and began heading towards his car.

"No Tommy wait!"

"What?" He turned to look at Kim. When he looked at her face, he could see that she was nervous, and he could see fear in her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"I decided I'm going to be doing something tonight, at the party… and I kinda need all the help that I can get."

"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to tell them…" Kim mumble.

"Oh." Tommy replied. "You're seriously gonna go through with it."

"I have to." She responded. "I've waited long enough, they need to know."

"I understand." Tommy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be there for you."

"Really?"

"Of course…"

"Thanks." Kim sighed.

"No problem." Tommy smiled.

"Oh, and Tommy…"

"Yeah?"

"I got it from aunt Lara."

"Huh?"

"The car… it's my aunt Lara's." She smiled.

"Oh." He chuckled. "Cool. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah." Kim nodded and got inside.  
_____________________________________________ 

Hours had passed when Kim finally found herself standing on Rocky's doorstep. She could hear the sound of music blasting through the windows, and the laughter of people from inside. She couldn't wait to get in there and meet all her friends but another side of her just wanted to turn around and go home. She stood there for a couple of minutes practicing her speech, that she would soon say in front of them all, inside her head. Her hands shook vigorously of nervousness, as she inched more to the door. 

Suddenly she found herself interrupted by footsteps from behind her. Kim turned to see who it was. To her surprise it was Tommy and Kat.

"Hey Kim." Tommy replied. "Are you gonna ring the door…" he paused to see the paleness of Kim's face and the great fear in her eyes. 

"Kimberly, are you okay?" Kat asked. "You don't look so well."

"I-I'm fine." She slowly replied, as Tommy noticed her shaking hands.

"Umm… Kat, why don't you head inside first, I'll meet you in there."

"Oh come on Tommy, I don't want to go in there by myself."

"Why? There you're friends, it's not like your going to meet a whole bunch of strangers."

"Please." Kat begged.

"Okay fine." Tommy gave in, as he stepped up to the door passing Kim. 

Kat rang the doorbell and ringed her arms with Tommy's, while Tommy turned around to take one short glimpse of Kim.

__

"Oh my god… I can't to this." She thought to herself, and quickly turned around heading down towards the driveway.

The front door finally opened to an excited Rocky behind it. "TOMMY! KAT! Great that you could come!" he shouted. "Hey, where's Kim going?" he asked, as he noticed Kim walking down the driveway as well.

"Yeah I'm going to find out." Tommy quickly replied, as he pushed Kat inside.

"Tommy! Where are you going?" Kat replied.

"I'll be back… don't worry." He said, as Rocky shut the door.

Tommy quickly ran down to the driveway to see Kim getting into her car.

"Kim… what are you doing?"

"I can't be here… I can't do this." She whispered.

"No, Kim. Listen to me… you're not going to leave, okay?" He replied. "Get out of the car."

"Tommy, just leave me alone, all right."

"No I'm not going to leave you alone. Get out of the car!"

"You don't understand, I can't do this."

"You convinced yourself before, why are turning back now?"

"Because before I wasn't standing in front of Rocky's house."

"Kim, just get out of your car, and get in there. Who says that you have to tell them tonight?"

"I've waited too long… they have to know."

"And you're just going to make the wait even longer if you leave right now."

Kimberly froze. "You're right." She muttered.

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted when a black Explorer pulled up in the driveway. Jason and Lacey had stepped out of it and walked up to the two.

"Hey you two… what's up?" Lacey smiled.

"Kim… what's going on?" Jason asked with curiosity.

"She backing out." Tommy replied to him.

"Kim no… come on. You can do this all right You've got me, Lacey and Tommy to support you. Get out of the car." Jason replied, offering his hand.

Kim sat there for a moment to collect her thoughts. Getting out of her car would mean that she was actually going to go through with her plan, and she didn't know if should was able to pull it through. She looked up to see all three of them staring back at her. She slowly nodded and reached for Jason's hand. She stood up and closed her car door. The four of them walked up to Rocky's door and rang the doorbell.

Once again Rocky opened it, and was ecstatic. "HEY YOU GUYS! Come on in!" she shouted.

Kim stepped in and saw Aisha, Tanya and Kat chatting amongst each other in Rocky's living room. What bugged her the most was that she saw people she didn't even know. They were probably people from Rocky's work, but she didn't want to make a scene in front of them. Suddenly Aisha and Tanya ran up to her and gave her hugs.

"What's up girl?" Aisha yelled out.

"Not much." Kim smiled back.

"Hey… I've got a couple of people I want you to meet." Aisha said as she grabbed Kim by the wrists. She led her two a group of people sitting in the dining room. 

"Kim, these are my friends from work. This is Ken, Geraldine, Lisa and Craig."

The name Craig stood out from all of them; the evil name of her drunken ex-boyfriend. The one who started the whole mess in the first place. It made Kim feel a little awkward. She slowly nodded at them and shook each of their hands.

"Nice to meet you." She kindly said. "Hey Aisha, I'm gonna head to the washroom okay?"

"Yeah sure." 

"Kay." Kim nodded, turned and headed towards the bathroom. But before she made it there, she accidentally bumped into a person on her way. Kim turned to see that it was Kat.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Kim muttered.

"It's all right." Kat replied. "Are you seriously feeling all right Kim? You don't look too good."

"I'm great." Kim smiled. "Nothing's wrong with me."

"Oh, okay. It's just your really don't look well. Maybe you should go home and get some rest." Kat insisted.

"Kat I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Are you sure?"

Kim got the hint that Kat wanted her gone from the party, and she certainly wasn't going to take that crap.

"Kat, is there a reason for you insisting that I leave this party?" Kim asked in her kindest tone.

"No not all." Kat smiled back.

"Okay then." Kim gave a fake smile back and continued her way to the bathroom.  
__________________________________________

****

A few hours later…

Jason wandered around Rocky's house looking for Kim. She was no where to be seen. He checked the kitchen to only see Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Billy and a couple others chatting. Jason then headed towards the living room and the dining room but Kim wasn't there either. He had this sudden fear that she probably slipped outside and decided to leave after all. Suddenly he saw Tommy walking out of the washroom and Jason immediately approached him. 

"Tommy! Have you seen Kim?" He asked.

Tommy shook his head. "No… haven't seen her."

"Shit! Where the hell is she." He sneered.

"You don't think she left do you?" Tommy asked.

"That's what I'm thinking."

"Here… I'm gonna go check if her car is still here."

"Kay." Jason nodded.

A few minutes later, Tommy came back inside the house and shook his head. "No, her car is still there."

"Oh my god, this is fucking stupid. Help me find her."

The two split up. With Tommy going towards the living room and Jason heading over to the kitchen once again, they went in search for Kimberly. It wasn't until they both heard her voice saying: "Can I talk to you guys for a sec?"

It was Kim. Jason stepped into the kitchen and saw her pulling away Rocky, Adam, Billy and Tanya. She turned to see Jason standing there.

"Jason! There you are." She replied. "Can you do me a favor and get Aisha for me?"

"How 'bout Tommy and Kat?"

"Yeah them too." She nodded.

Jason turned to see Tommy standing right behind him. 

"This is it." He whispered to Tommy.

"Get Aisha and Kat." 

"Kay." Tommy nodded.

Kim led the guys upstairs to Rocky's room with everybody confused as to what was going on.

"You guys better sit down for this." Kim replied.

"Kim, what's going on?" Rocky asked.

"Just sit… I'll tell you in a minute."

She looked over at Jason, who shut the door. Kim paused for a moment to get herself together. She had the guts to round everybody up… now she needed to find the strength to tell them all. 

"It's been almost three weeks now since I've come back…" She began to say. "And I haven't exactly been honest with you guys."

"Honest about what?" Billy asked.

"I haven't been honest about myself… about the reason why I came back." Kim took a deep breath. "I never left gymnastics because I didn't think it was cut out for me, I left because I was kicked out."

"What? I don't get it… You weren't good enough or something." Aisha replied.

"It's not that I wasn't good enough, it's more that I made bad decisions slash choices…" Kim responded and continued to tell her story.

After about half and hour of talking, her friends were in complete shock.

"Kim… I don't know what to say." Billy replied. "I mean, I'd never expect you to get into that kind of stuff."

"I know." Kim muttered, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was stupid, and I got myself involved with the wrong people."

"I really don't know what to say Kim." Aisha replied sternly, shaking her head. "This whole time you were struggling with your life and you didn't even rely on your best friends to help you?"

"Aisha, I didn't want to get you guys involved…"

"Kim you almost DIED!" Aisha interrupted her. "And if you did, we probably wouldn't know about that either!" she shouted.

"Aisha." Adam mumbled, putting his hand on her shoulder to make her calm down.

"Lay off Adam!" She snapped. "This is insane. I can't believe you Kim. When you first came back here I ignored the fact that you never called, or sent an email or letter. We could have helped you Kim, we could have prevented all these bad things from happening to you. But you made the decision to leave us out, and you come here and expect us to just welcome you back with open arms?"

"I told you I made some bad decisions."

"Well what on earth were you thinking?" Aisha yelled again.

"Aisha calm down." Jason replied.

"And you!" She pointed at him. "You've been here for a year and we only find this out now?"

"Aisha I told him not to say anything." Kim responded.

"God! You are an idiot." 

"Aisha!" Adam stammered.

"This is fucking crazy… I-I can't even look at you." Aisha replied, turning away from Kim.

"Aisha, I didn't intend on isolating you the way I did. If I knew how it would make you guys feel, I wouldn't have done it."

"Well it's too late for that now, ain't it." Aisha slowly muttered. "I'm going back downstairs."

Everyone watched as Aisha opened the door and headed down to the party. Kim turned to the others. They all remained silent.

"Are you done now?" Billy asked.

Kim nodded.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you." He replied. "But I'm gonna have to agree with Aisha. It really hurts to know that during one of the toughest phases of your life, you didn't want your closest friends involved. Especially me…"

"Billy I'm so sorry."

"I-I know you are." Billy nodded. "That doesn't change what you did."

"Kim, I don't want to be rude or anything… but I think it's best that you leave." Rocky replied quietly.

"Yeah maybe that would be a good thing." Kat suddenly replied.

Kim quickly looked over at her who had no sign or emotion on her face, just a blank stare. Kim slowly nodded, and headed out the room. Tears began streaming down her face as she walked down the stairs. She grabbed her bag and jacket in the living room and left through the front door.

"Kim, wait up!" voices yelled from behind her. Kim stopped for those behind her to catch up. It was Lacey, Jason and Tommy, coming to comfort her.

"Look if you guys are gonna try to make me feel better nothing's going to work, okay." She replied.

"Kim, I'm sure if you give them time, they'll come around." Tommy replied.

"Why? Because you did?" Kim responded. "Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but what they said in there was way more harsh than what you said."

"Kim…"

"Did you hear what Rocky said!" She cried. "He asked me to leave!"

"He only did that because it's for the best."

"They hate me." Kim whimpered. "I knew this was going to be bad."

"Just give them time…" Lacey whispered, placing her hand on Kim's shoulder.

"I hurt Aisha and Billy." Kim muttered. "Aisha won't even look at me…"

"You'll be okay." Jason stepped up. 

"I want to go home." Kim whispered.

"I'll drive, you're in no good condition to drive yourself home." Tommy offered.

"What about Kat?" 

"I'll leave my car here. She's got the keys."

"No Tommy you should stay with her."

"Kim, if I don't drive you, who else will?"

"Lace?"

"Umm… actually Kim… my license was taken away. I was caught speeding." Lacey replied.

"Oh."

"You see… I'm the only one you've got."

Kim slowly nodded and started her way towards her car.

"Hey Kim… you wouldn't mind if me and Lace stayed would you?" Jason asked.

"Of course not." Kim shook her head. 

Jason smiled back as he and Lacey started heading back inside the house. Kim opened her purse, gave Tommy her keys and the two got inside. The night was over. Kim had done what she was set out to do, and she couldn't feel anymore worse.


	10. Chapter 10 Giving Into Temptation

****

Comments - Okay, well how long has it been since I last updated this? I swear it was around last year. Haha well I was just browsing through my computer, and I remembered I still had this thing incomplete. I guess I just had to take a break from it, cuz I had so many negative reviews Well I know I have a lot of people who hate it, but I guess I just have to say… if you hate it, DON'T READ IT. And if you don't like the swearing then, DON'T READ IT! It's that simple people, it's that simple. Well I'm BACK and it now time to finish this sucker…

****

Endless Roads

Chapter 10 - Giving Into Temptation

Tommy walked Kim up to her apartment door. The ride home was a quiet one; Kim had not said a word, but it wasn't surprising. After all the chaos that she had been through that night, there was nothing much to say without her getting upset. Tommy watched as she took her key and placed it into the lock, slowly opened the door and stepped in. He followed along not sure if to leave her alone or not. Tommy shut the door behind him and remained silent as Kim continued to walk towards her room. She suddenly stopped; realizing Tommy was still there. 

"You know, you can go back." She replied.

"Are you sure… 'Cause I can stay if you want." Tommy responded. 

Kim remained silent, unsure as to what she wanted as she scratched her head, looking down at the ground. "Right now I really have no idea what I want." She muttered. "I feel like shit."

"Kim… don't say that."

"But honestly… I really wouldn't mind if you stayed. It'd really suck being alone right now."

"Well I'll stay then." Tommy said.

Kim gave out a little laugh.

"What?"

"It's nothing really…" Kim muttered. "It's just, out of the whole time I've been back…. What I just said right now is the only time I've actually been honest with myself."

"Well that's a good sign isn't it?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, but I guess a good sign ain't gonna do me any good right now."

"And how are you so sure."

"Billy's upset with me, Tommy. And Aisha… let's just say I won't be hearing from her anytime soon."

"Kim, I told you… just give them time. They'll come around."

"But what if they don't?"

"They will."

"How do you know? How are you so sure that they'll forgive me Tommy, huh?"

"Okay, I'll admit… I'm not so sure. But I know them, and you know them too… they're not going to hate you forever."

"God I just HATE THIS!" Kim yelled. "I am just sick and tired of dealing with this crap! I want things to go back to normal, but whenever I try to, there's always something left to do that will just bring me down again."

"Kim, you'll get through this, okay? You've already taken the biggest step…"

"And what's that?"

"Telling them the truth." Tommy replied. "Now that you've got everything out, you can only start building your way up."

"It's never that simple Tommy. With my luck, there's always something else; every time I think things couldn't possibly get worse… they do."

"And your positive that something will?"

"Hey, it's happened before." She muttered, knowing that there was still something to say. Something she knew would be very hard for her to admit: that deep down inside, there were feelings for the man that stood in front of her.

"You sure aren't looking on the brighter side of things."

"Because there is no brighter side." And there wouldn't be. As long as Tommy still remained with Kat, there would never be a brighter side.

"And with that attitude, you're definitely not going to get anywhere, Kim"

"Thank you Dr. Oliver, I didn't realize I signed up for a session with a psychiatrist when I decided to go home."

"Kim I'm serious. If you don't stop looking at the bad side of things, you're not going to get anywhere."

"Well maybe that's just the way I want things to be." Kim muttered.

"Why are you acting like this?" Tommy asked.

Tommy's question got Kim to realize how bitter she was being. Her quick, stuck-up comebacks replayed in her mind, showing her how insecure she was being.

"I'm sorry." Kim replied.

"Kim… Is there something else you want to tell me?"

Kim stood silent. Was this her time? Was confessing her feelings at that moment the right thing to do? For all she knew, she had no idea.

"Kim…"

"Building a new start is not as easy as it looks." She muttered.

"Who said it ever was?" Tommy asked.

"I told myself that I could do it on my own…"

"But you can't?" Tommy added.

Kim stared back at him, agreeing with what he said. "Jason has always been there for me. Now I've got to prove to myself that I can do this on my own, but it's turning out to be pretty impossible."

"Well nobody's telling you that you have to."

"True. But Jason's living his life right now and he seems pretty happy. The last thing I want to do is interfere in it just because I need help."

"You've got me." Tommy replied. "I can help you out."

Kim smiled back at him. "Thanks Tommy, that's sweet of you, but I've already got the vibe off of Kat that she doesn't like me here, and I'm sure she wouldn't be too pleased to hear that you're helping me out."

"Yeah, well Kat doesn't understand a lot of things."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"She's just a different person than all of you. And when I mean different I mean she likes different things, has different interests. And nowadays she has this real serious personality that I've never seen before."

"Maybe she's just maturing Tommy; seeing things in a different light."

Tommy nodded.

"Do you not like that?" Kim asked.

Tommy stayed silent for a moment to think before answering, because he wasn't quite sure. Lately Kat had been constantly protesting against all his plans he had made with friends. It was hard for him too, juggling between keeping his friends and his girlfriend happy.

"Well at times it can be frustrating, but it's something I can deal with. I just have to admit to myself that she isn't going to like everything." Tommy replied.

"Everybody has their flaws." Kim muttered, just realizing that she was talking to Tommy about his love for Kat. A topic she didn't want to touch, and not only that, it encouraged her even more that telling Tommy about her feelings was a bad idea.

"Exactly." Tommy responded. "Besides, I love her too much. As long as we're happy together, then it doesn't matter."

Hearing those words made her heart sink. It wasn't until that moment that she was absolutely positive that telling him wrong. 

"I see." Kim nodded, turning away from Tommy, rolling her eyes. "You're lucky Tommy, you know that?"

"Lucky for what?"

"You're lucky to find love like that." Kim replied. "I've been cursed with this bad luck."

"Kim don't say that." Tommy shook his head. "You'll find that love someday. Just because that Craig guy didn't turn out to be your prince in shining armor, doesn't mean you'll never find the right guy for you…"

As Tommy went on talking, Kim thought to herself. _"The right guy for me?."_ Kim knew who the right guy for her was. But she screwed that up when she decided to breakup with him. Her head was filled of "What ifs." What if she never broke up with Tommy? What if she never went to Florida? One thing was for sure, if she never went, her life wouldn't be so screwed up, like it was now. 

"Kim?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah?" She responded.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"You just looked like you were in another world right now."

Kim did not answer, she was still in deep thought.

"Kim!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh… nothing." Kim muttered.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Believe me… you don't want to know."

"Give me a shot… maybe I do."

"No, you don't."

"Kim come on… you can trust me."

"Just forget it Tommy. It was nothing." Kim snapped.

"I thought we were going to be honest with each other from now on?"

Kim paused. Tommy was right; she wasn't being honest, and she knew she had to be.

"Kim, come one. Quit hiding things back. You've done that plenty of times ever since you arrived here and now that you have everything out, just tell me."

Although Tommy was right, this was something she definitely wasn't comfortable with. After hearing Tommy speak about how much in love he was with Kat, how on earth was she supposed to tell him? All it would cause was more confusion between them. Kim convinced herself right there that she wasn't going to say a word about it, but the matter was that she had Tommy standing there right in front of her, already curious as to what was in that complicated mind of hers. Obviously Kim wanted to do the right thing, but was telling Tommy her feelings for him the right thing, knowing that he was a taken man, who was obviously happily involved with Kat?

There was a long silence between them, making things very awkward. Tommy was eager to hear what Kim was thinking. He was so concerned about her. The way she'd been acting, the issues she faced, and her situation with her friends just made him fall apart knowing that she wasn't happy. And if Kim had another secret, he wanted to know. He wanted to help Kim in every way, so that she could get better.

"Kim… please." He whispered. "Just tell me. The way things have been for you…. It's killing me inside. Seeing you like this is something I never want to see again. Just tell me what on your mind…"

"Why? Why are you doing this Tommy?" Kim asked. 

"Because I want to help you. Believe it or not, but no matter what you do, your always going to be a big part of my life."

Those words brought a great deal of emotion to Kim and actually encouraged her on her part. Knowing the way Tommy felt was like a sigh of relief, making Kim a bit more comfortable with what she finally decided to say. 

Kim swallowed hard and let the words just flow out of her mouth.

"The truth is…" she paused. "I've never realized it before but…" 

"But what, Kim?" Tommy muttered.

Kim's mouth dried up, her palms beginning to feel sweaty. But soon enough Kim noticed that there was no turning back at this point, what she was about to say had to come out. And it did. 

" I don't think I was ever over you, Tommy."

Tommy stood still, shocked at what he just heard.

"I wasn't over you then, and now when I think about it, I don't think I'm over you now."

The two stood there looking at each other. Kim looking into his eyes and Tommy looking into hers. Memories and old feelings began to rise as the two continued on to stare. Shivers were sent down Kim's spine as nervousness soon hit her. She was too afraid to move; yet she had the urge to tell him more. 

Tommy couldn't move either. Somehow they were trapped, unable to speak a word or move a muscle. Beads of sweat trickled down Tommy's forehead. Never in his life did he feel this shocked. He never would have expected Kim to say that. Her words were like an unexpected smack in the face, and he didn't know how to react. 

"Kim… I don't know what to say." He managed to speak.

"Don't say anything." Kim whispered. "Now that you know everything… maybe it's best that you leave."

Tommy shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Tommy please." Kim begged, as tears began to form in her eyes. "Now that you know, I don't think I can have you standing there in front of me like this."

"I said I'd stay, so I'm staying."

Kim had nothing to say, so she just shut her eyes.

Tommy knew that there were still feelings for Kim inside of him, but never did he think that Kim did. Hearing what she had just said was not just a shock to him, but in ways, a sigh of relief. Who knew the secret that Tommy thought Kim was hiding, was about her feelings for him. He looked at her, seeing how afraid she was. It must have taken her a lot of strength to tell him that. Just looking at her vulnerable state made him want to walk over to her and comfort her. He knew that Kim must have been feeling empty at the moment, noting the fact that he wasn't giving her much of a reaction. But how could he, his mind was spinning at a thousand miles per hour. All he wanted to do was tell Kim everything he felt, but then the sudden picture of Kat popped into mind, and suddenly he resisted.

"Tommy, just please go!" Kim sobbed. "This is just way too much emotional stress for me in one night… I just want to go to bed."

"Kim…" He muttered.

"Please, just leave."

He had to say something; he couldn't just leave, now that he knew the truth. He wanted to tell her the truth as well. But every time he wanted to say it, Kat came into mind, time and time again. He had to fight it, they promised that they'd be honest with each other, so Kim had to be told. Suddenly, Tommy just then realized he just had to ignore that Kat even existed and just say it… and so he did.

"Kim… just let me say something." He replied.

"What?"

"I haven't been honest with you… and it's something that you really should know."

Kim froze once again, a bit sure as to what Tommy was about to say. Kim told him her feelings, was Tommy about to share his?

"You know I'm not going to deny it, Kim." Tommy continued to speak. "You and I... we've been through a lot, and we've loved each other way too much to just let our feelings for one another stop. But I'll admit I actually convinced myself that you did. Believe it or not, but your letter must have been the worst thing that could happen to me. I tried to get over you, and I thought I did, but the moment that you came back, those feeling hit me harder than I thought it ever would."

Kim shut her eyes, and let her tears run down her cheeks. What he had just said made her relieved that she wasn't the only fool who felt that way.

"And now that I know how you feel, I'm sure that both of us know that there's still something between us." Tommy replied, taking tiny steps towards her. 

Kim couldn't say a word. She just stood there sobbing, unsure as to what to say in response. There were so many emotions lingering within her, that it blinded her to see what was happening before her eyes. Tommy reached for her chin, and lifted her face up so he could look into her eyes. 

"Kim… I'm not over you either, and I think we never have." he whispered.

She stared into his eyes. The touch of Tommy's hand on her face brought back memories, and in that moment she forgot that the world even existed. Without a word Kim made her lips meet his, as the two embraced with a kiss. Tommy ran his fingers through her soft brown hair as they continued. Kim felt weak in the knee as his lips caressed hers. Tommy could feel her arms wrap around his neck as their kiss became more intense. Suddenly, Tommy's conscience came back to him, and the sudden picture of Kat returned. He quickly broke their embrace, and the two remained silent looking at each other with complete and utter shock, both out of breath.

"Did we just do that?" Kim panted.

"I think we did." Tommy replied.

"Oh God." She muttered, covering her mouth with her hand. "We shouldn't have done that. I mean, you're with Kat… you have someone."

"Kim…" Tommy mumbled.

"You better go, Tommy. Before I do something else really stupid."

"Kim, it wasn't just you okay. I didn't exactly resist to it."

"Yeah." She sighed. "But I think it'd be good if you'd just now… please." Kim begged.

"Okay." Tommy nodded, as he slowly turned to the door. He reached for the doorknob and slowly opened the door, but before he walked out he turned and looked back at Kim.

"I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow?" He asked.

Kim looked at him, and slowly gave him a nod.

"Okay." He muttered and walked out the door.


	11. Chapter 11 Continuing Hearts

Endless Roads

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Chapter 11 - Continuing Hearts

Tommy sat on his bed, watching Kat quietly asleep beside him. Never in his life did he feel this guilty. While Kat was innocently sleeping, her boyfriend could only think about the pervious night when he kissed his ex-girlfriend. The moment replayed in Tommy's mind. Kissing Kim one more time, having her in his arms one more time, it made him feel good, but awful all at once. He turned his head, and looked down at Kat.

__

"How could I do this to you?" He thought to himself. _"I'm so sorry Kat."_

Yes, he felt sorry, but in ways he didn't. Ever since Kim came back, he had those feelings building up inside, and now that Kim knew a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. The feeling of the kiss was so great and intense; it was something he could have never shared with Kat. 

________________________________________

Kim sat at the kitchen table, munching on cereal, staring at the spot where _it_ had happened. A smile glided on her face the more she thought about it. The kiss was amazing; a feeling she had never felt in a long time. But when the thought of Tommy already taken by Kat came into mind, her happiness sank to the floor. She wished to herself that it wouldn't get to her, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't. 

"Geez, something real serious must be on your mind if it's got you looking like that." Someone said from behind Kim, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hey Lace." Kim muttered.

"What's up with you?" Lacey asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing huh? Liar."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on Kim. How long have I known you?" Lacey replied. "You do not make a face like that, not unless something major is on your mind."

Kim paused and looked at her.

"You know me too well." Kim muttered, and she ate another spoonful of cereal.

"So out with it." Lacey demanded.

"Why?" Kim sighed.

"Why? Because I want to know! Do you not remember what happened last night? There has to be a follow up after all that."

Kim gave her a blank stare back.

"Spill it woman."

"Look… it was no big deal. Tommy and I just had a talk last night… that's all."

"About…?"

"Do I seriously have to tell you all the details?"

"Yes!" Lacey exclaimed. "Of course you do."

"Oh God." Kim muttered underneath her breath.

"Well…"

Kim remained silent. This topic was too personal for her to share; just thinking about it made her blush. But Kim knew that Lacey would never let her off the hook until she got her way, which was something that annoyed the hell out of Kim. She gave a little laugh seeing how desperate Lacey looked sitting right in front of her, and after awhile Kim finally gave in.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll tell you." Kim muttered.

Suddenly a huge smile appeared on Lacey's face.

"Obviously you know how upset I was last night." Kim replied.  
  
"Yeah, after some of the stuff they said to you, I wasn't surprised."

"Yeah, well anyway, Tommy and I were just talking about that. How I shouldn't let it get to me, and that they'll come around sooner or later." Kim began to explain. "And he was so supportive… I mean, I totally forgot what a gentleman he is. And while we were talking all I could think about were my feelings that I still had for this guy."

"So you still love him?" Lacey quietly asked.

"You know…" Kim paused. "If you asked me that before last night, I wouldn't have been too sure of the answer, but after… yeah I think I am." She replied.

"Why? What happened last night?"

Kim paused once more remembering back to last night in the living room. She replayed what the two had said in her mind, and remembering what she had felt.

"I don't remember how it came up, but Tommy just started talking about how much in love he was with Kat, and all I could think was why the hell am I listening to this." Kim replied. "He just went on and on about how as long as Kat's happy, he's happy and all of this fluff, and I'm sitting there thinking there's no way in hell I could tell him the truth about my feelings."

Lacey nodded.

"But you know, you can always see it on my face when there's something on my mind. And he just forced it out of me."

"W-wait… so you told him?" Lacey asked.

Kim nodded. "It was so hard to do… I thought I was a complete idiot telling him that after all the stuff he just said about Kat."

"What did he say?"

Kim smiled. "You'd be surprised." At that moment, she could hear the exact words that Tommy had said:

__

"You and I... we've been through a lot, and we've loved each other way too much to just let our feelings for one another stop. But I'll admit I actually convinced myself that you did. Believe it or not, but your letter must have been the worst thing that could happen to me. I tried to get over you, and I thought I did, but the moment that you came back, those feeling hit me harder than I thought it ever would."

"Well… what did he say?" Lacey interrupted.

"He said that he wasn't over me either, and there is still something between us."

"Your kidding me… he feels the same way?" Lacey muttered. "… that's so sweet."

"And then after that… I don't know what exactly happened, but all of a sudden I kissed him."

"You what?!" 

  
"I kissed him."

"Kimberly!" Lacey stammered.

"What?"

"The dude is taken! What if Kat finds out? I don't exactly know her, but from what I've seen she's not exactly the nicest person."

"I know… I know." Kim moaned, putting her hands over her face in shame. "And that is exactly why I don't want you saying a word to anyone about this."

"My lips are sealed." Lacey responded.

"Good." Kim replied.

"But I just can't believe it. You really kissed him." Lacey muttered. "Was it just you? Or did he… you know, kiss you back."

"Well he didn't really automatically pull away, if that's what you mean."

"He kissed you back." Lacey smiled. "That is so cute!"

"Shutup Lacey." Kim mumbled.

"So what was the kiss like? Is he a good kisser?"

"Okay, you're taking it a little too far. That is out of bounds for you, missy."

"Fine whatever." Lacey gave up.

"You can be really nosey sometimes… you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever." Lacey replied, walking into the kitchen. "Damnit! Jason forgot to buy coffee yesterday, didn't he."

"Yeah…" Kim muttered.

"Hey, you want to head over to Starbucks? I cannot start my day off without any caffeine."

"Hmm… that must explain you're wild behavior everyday." Kim laughed.

________________________________________________

****

Later at Starbucks…

Tommy had begun his morning, with a little visit to Starbucks with Rocky, Billy and Aisha. Rocky filled Tommy in about what happened at the party after he had left with Kim. Supposedly, the rest of the night wasn't much since Kim left everyone in a bad mood. Tommy tried to defend her from the criticism that Aisha and Billy had to say, but it just didn't seem to work.

As the two continued on and on about how hurt they felt about Kim lying to them, Tommy once again went back to remembering last night. It just couldn't escape his mind, the more and more time that passed, the more he thought about it. And it made him feel so guilty because even if he did feel bad about kissing Kim behind Kat's back, it felt good having Kim back in his life. He always wanted to know how it would feel like if he and Kim had remained together, and maybe what had been going on between the two of them now was a sneak peak of what it would feel like. Kim's presence was so familiar and it brought him back to the good old days when they were younger. He remembered how uncomplicated life used to be back then, and that was mainly because of the impact that Kim had made on him. With her, everything seemed so simple and easy, but unfortunately, that would never be the case now. Kim had changed, and life was not so simple for her. And now with the kiss, life wouldn't be so simple for Tommy either. But it still wouldn't leave Tommy's mind how great the kiss felt. It left him smiling at the table while Aisha and Billy continued to rant about their feelings.

Little did he know that at the exact moment as he sat at his table, Kim and Lacey had walked into the café. Outside was a bright, hot day and the two slowly slid their sunglasses to the top of their heads. As soon as the glasses came off, Tommy realized that one of the girls was Kim. His eyes widened in excitement at the sight of her. His head lifted up from the table immediately, but as soon as he moved Aisha and Billy had spotted her as well. Tommy could hear them groan.

"Oh great. Just what we needed." Aisha replied. "You guys want to get out of here?"

"Yeah… let's head out." Billy mumbled as he got up from his chair. Kim spotted the two getting up about to leave. She noticed Rocky following along and Tommy remaining sitting at their table. She paused for a moment unsure as to what to do. Should she approach them and try to mend things over, or let them be and wait till they make a move. But while standing there, deciding on what to do, the three had left the café and headed to their cars. Soon as she realized they were gone, she turned around to order her coffee. Soon as her order was done, she turned around to grab a table, only to see Tommy standing right in front of her.  
  
"Hi." He replied.

"Hey." Kim smiled awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about the others. I guess they're just not ready as of yet to speak to you."

Kim let out a big sigh. "Tommy, I know you're trying to help, but maybe you should just let them be. If they don't want to speak to me then they won't speak to me. I don't want you ruining you're friendship with them just because you're supporting me."

"That's not going to happen." Tommy muttered.

"And you're certain?"

"I'm positive." Tommy answered. "Kim… listen to me. There is no need for you to worry about them, because they will get around to forgiving you. How can they possibly remain mad at you, when they know your trying your hardest in getting better."

"I wish I could be positive like you." Kim muttered looking down at her coffee.

"Listen… why don't we go somewhere where we can talk more?" Tommy asked.

  
"I-I can't… I'm here with Lacey."

"Well now you're with Tommy." Lacey quickly butted in.  
  
"Excuse me?" Kim responded.

"It looks like you two need to talk some more, don't let me get in the way of that." Lacey replied. "Look, I'll take the car back home, and you can mooch a ride off Tommy. All is good… I'll catch ya later."

Kim watched as Lacey walked off with Kim's keys, leaving her stranded inside the café alone with Tommy. 

"And then there were two." She muttered, turning back her attention to him. He remained staring at her with a smile on his face.

"What?" Kim asked. "Why are you looking at me like that."

"Because now, for the first time, you don't look too pissed off like you used to."

Kim smiled. "Well… I guess I have you to thank for that."

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Because as much as I hate to admit it, you've actually given me some hope."

"That's good to know." He nodded. "Look, I got this awesome place where we could talk, but it's a surprise."

  
"So what… you're gonna blind fold me or something?"

"Of course not." Tommy replied.  
  
"Well good." Kim responded.

"I am, however, gonna conceal your eyes like this." He said, as he place one hand over her eyes and led her out the door.

"Watch it! I don't want to spill my coffee."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you." Tommy replied, as he walked her to his car.

"Tommy? What is the point of covering my eyes when I know we're in the parking lot." Kim said.

"You know what? You're right." Tommy admitted and removed his hands.

"So where on earth could this place that you want to take me be?" she asked.

"Nope! I'm not telling you anything!" He exclaimed, as he opened the passenger's door for Kim. "Get in."

Kim gave a quick smile and sat herself down in Tommy's car. As soon as Tommy got in, he took a towel that sat in the back seat of his car and gave it to Kim.

"Here, put this on your head."

  
"You're kidding me right?" Kim snapped.

"No… put it on your head." He replied.

"I'll look like an idiot."

"I don't care, as long as you don't see where your going I'm fine with it."

"Fine then." Kim snarled and placed the towel on her head.

"Can you see?" Tommy asked.

"No."

"Good." Tommy smiled and began driving off.

__________________________________________

****

Fifteen minutes later…

Tommy had finally arrived at his destination. He hadn't been at this location ever since the letter he had received from Kimberly. And hopefully returning back to it, with Kimberly by her side would make the moment more special.

"Where the hell are we Tommy?" Kim asked.

"Hold on a bit." He replied, guiding Kim down to what he wanted to show her.

"I can't breathe under this towel anymore!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Hold on, this will only take a few seconds." Tommy said, holding onto Kim so she would trip on anything. Soon, he had sat down Kim on a large boulder, which would give Kim the greatest view of the place. Tommy had a huge smile on his face, excited to see what Kim's reaction would be. Slowly he placed his hands on the towel and pulled it away from Kim's face.

As soon as Kim's eyes opened, and took a glimpse of where she was, her eyes widened from shock.

"Oh my god." She muttered.

"You remember this place?" Tommy asked. 

"Of course I do." Kim replied. "This was the very exact pond that we had our very first kiss, and you asked me out to our school dance."

"Right on target." He smiled.

"Wow Tommy. This is… this is just so… why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"Because this is our spot. We used to come here all the time, and I honestly thought this would be a great place where we could talk. Just like the old times… why? Is there something wrong?"

"No!… no of course not. It's just… I never thought how overwhelming this place could be. We've shared a lot of memories here."

"Yeah we have." Tommy smiled as he stared out into the still water of the pond. Vibrant pink Lillies floated along the pond, as the reflection of the trees made the scenic view captivating. Tommy took a glimpse at the rock that Kim had been sitting on. That was the exact same rock that the two had spent so much time sitting on as they embraced each other in the cold air. It was teen love that the place reminded them of. And Tommy missed it. But soon he snapped out of the trance that the scenery had trapped him in, he immediately got back on track on the main reason why he brought Kim here.  
  
"Look about that kiss last night Kim… I wanted to talk to you about it."  
  
"Tommy…"

"I know you're thinking that it might have been a little too fast for you, so I want you know that I'll never do it again." He quickly interrupted.

"Tommy…"

"It's just I guess we were caught up in the moment, and I guess we both got carried away, but honestly Kim, I don't want you thinking that I'm forcing anything on you." He interrupted again.

"Tommy…"

"You know I would never want to hurt you in anyway, so if you feel offended by it…"

"TOMMY!" Kim exclaimed. "Are you finished? 'Cause I'd like to say something about it too."

  
"What?" He replied.

"You weren't forcing anything on me… remember? I was the one that kissed you."  
  
"You were?" Tommy responded, a bit confused.

"Yes." She nodded. "And how on earth would I feel offended by it, when I enjoyed every single moment of it." Kim replied.

Those words were like a sigh of relief to Tommy. It felt good to know that Kim felt the same way about the kiss.

"But the only thing that bothers me about it, is that you're sneaking around behind Kat's back."

"I know." Tommy muttered. "This morning all I could feel was guilt. The more I looked at her, the more it hurt, knowing that I've been doing things that I know would hurt her."

"I'm sure it does hurt Tommy." Kim whispered. "You two have been together for some time now."

"But there's something about you, that just makes me want to not care." He blurted out.

Soon as Kim heard those words, she quickly closed her eyes, taking in what he had just said.

"Tommy… I want you to tell me if any of this is uncomfortable, or if you feel that something is wrong, because I want to know."

  
"In ways Kim, I know this is wrong… but you mean a great deal to me. I can't just ignore you."

"So what do we do now?" Kim asked.

Tommy said nothing and the two remained silent. Both stared at each other for minutes, not moving a muscle. They just continued looking into each other's eyes in the place that first started them. That moment was filled with emotions until it reached the point where the emotions dug deeper. Tommy then began to lean forward down to Kim as his lips met hers and the two indulged into another kiss.


	12. Chapter 12 Feeling Mixed Emotions

Endless Roads

****

Chapter 12 - Feeling Mixed Emotions

Kim and Tommy remained at the Angel Grove pond for hours together, holding each other the way they used to back in the day. They chatted about the old days and how happy they were, but the most important thing was that they were able to feel a happiness that they had never felt in years. It seemed that the two had so much to talk about as the hours passed by. Soon sunset was approaching, and both remained there to watch it go down. Kim had never felt so comfortable in so long, and she never wanted to leave. Because she knew as soon as the both of them had to leave, she would have continue feeling the tension among her friends.

She dreaded every single moment of it. The way that Aisha and Billy stared her down, it hurt deep inside of her. But being there with Tommy was some sort of escape. It boggled her mind how things worked out between the two of them. She remembered when she was on the plane heading back to Angel Grove, how nervous she was about seeing Tommy, but she would have never have guessed that this would happen. Sitting there, at the place where their relationship had begun, being in his arms once again, it felt magical.

Soon enough, daylight had vanished, and the moon began to appear in the sky above them. Tommy looked down at Kim and gave her a warm smile. Although he said nothing, his smile spoke a million words to her. She smiled back at him, showing how grateful she was to know that he was there for her. Once again, Tommy leaned down and gave her another kiss. Soon as they broke apart from their embrace Tommy insisted that they head back. Kim agreed and they began to make their way back to Tommy's car.  
_______________________________________________

Kim entered the apartment, a little bit dazed from the great day she had with Tommy. On her face appeared a little grin, a grin that Jason and Lacey couldn't help but notice as she walked in.

"Well where have you been?" Lacey replied.

"I've been out." Kim smiled.

"Oh yeah. And what have you been doing while you were out, huh? 'Cause I do recall leaving you with Tommy around noon… and well it's nine o'clock now…"

"We were talking about stuff, why?" Kim replied.

"Please… you've been out for about nine hours, and you're telling me, you spent that whole time talking?" Lacey said.

"You know Kim… Lacey's got a point." Jason replied.

"Okay, fine. If you must know… Tommy took me to our pond today." Kim answered.

"Pond?" Lacey asked.

"Their pond." Jason replied. "It's the Angel Grove pond that Kim and Tommy used to go to when we were in highschool. And if I'm correct, that was the place where you two first kissed, wasn't it?"

Kim nodded.

"So you're telling me Tommy took you to a place where it would obviously bring back romantic memories of the two of you? God is that ever a cry for some attention."

"Where are you going with this Lacey?" Kim asked.

"Obviously he brought you there for some reason… what did you two end up doing?"

Kim remained silent, still with a grin on her face.

"I'm guessing it was something good?"

"Well… it was nothing really." Kim replied. "We were just talking about our pasts, and…"

"And what." Lacey blurted out.

"And… there were… a few kisses now and then." Kim mumbled.

"WHAT?!" Jason exclaimed.

"Calm down Jase, it wasn't the first time." Lacey replied.

"You mean you kissed him another time?" Jason snapped.

Kim stared at him a little frightened by his reaction. "Last night." She quietly replied.

"Kim are you insane!" Jason exclaimed.  
  
"Well you were the one who wanted me to get back on track with Tommy." Kim muttered.

"Yeah… back on track like as friends or something! Kim, the dude's got a girlfriend already! How do you think Kat's going to take this?"

"You don't think we've thought about that already? Jason, what kind of idiot do you take me for. Of course we've talked about the whole Kat situation."

"So what are you going to do about it? Obviously spending time with him for nine hours and kissing him is not going to make the situation any better."

"We'll figure something out." Kim replied.

"Kim… you were always so worried about complicating things… but this… this just pushes everything far beyond what you were worried about."

"I know… I KNOW! Don't you think I've already thought about that?"

"Then why the hell are you doing this?!" Jason snapped again.

"Because for the first time, Jason, I feel happy! I feel like something is actually right in my life. And maybe, just maybe Tommy can lead me back to that life you're always telling me that I can gain back."

"And you think that it will work by having Tommy cheat on his girlfriend?"

Kim paused.

"Kim, listen. This isn't the right thing. You guys are going to hurt people, and you may just even hurt your self; maybe even worse than before."

"Jason you can't just tell her to stop." Lacey butted in. "The two are still in love with each other. What if this can lead to something?"

"Lacey this isn't about what it may lead to, this is about hurting Kat and hurting others." Jason responded.

"So what do you want me to do?" Kim quietly replied. "Just stop feeling this way? 'Cause I can't."

"I don't know Kim… all I can say is that you two better be careful. Because honestly, at the end of this, either you or Kat are going to be hurt… there's no way out of that. And you better be ready."  
_______________________________________

Tommy entered his apartment, and carefully laid his keys on his kitchen counter. The apartment was silent; not a noise was made. It was a bit odd because Tommy would have sworn that Kat would have been home. He then went into his fridge and poured a glass of milk for himself and then headed towards the television. As soon as he turned it on, he heard someone storming down the hall from his bedroom. He looked up to see an angry Kat standing in front of him.

"Where the hell were you?" Kat exclaimed.

"I was out… why?"

"You were out the whole day… why didn't you tell me you coming home late."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was so important to you."

"Who were you with?" Kat snapped.

"I was… with… Jason." Tommy answered.

"Jason… you know you seem to be spending a lot of time with him lately…" Kat replied.

"Why is there a problem?" Tommy asked.

"Yes Tommy! There is a problem. There is a problem when your boyfriend is spending way more time with his friends than his actual girlfriend."

Tommy paused to realize that he hadn't spent that much time with Kat. And he knew it was because he was so caught up with making sure Kim was okay and happy. He didn't know what to do though. Yes Kat was his girlfriend, and she was everything to him, but Kim was everything to him as well. At that moment, Tommy knew that he was stuck. Kat was his long time girlfriend who meant so much to him, but Kim was the love that never had an ending. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to convince that Kat had nothing to worry about.

Tommy let out a sigh. "Kat I'm sorry if your feeling neglected…"

"Neglected! You think I'm feeling neglected! How about shunned from your entire life!" Kat exclaimed.

"Shunned? Kat you're making things way too dramatic." Tommy replied.

"Oh am I really?"

"Look if you want to spend time together all you have to do is ask me."

"So I have ask for your permission to be with you? What… so you can write me down in your weekly planner, or something?"

"Kat I didn't mean it like that." Tommy muttered.

"Well what do you mean then Tommy… because honestly, ever since a certain person has come back, I just feel like our relationship is falling apart."

"You honestly feel that?" Tommy asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you're never around, Tommy!"

"Kat… I'm so sorry. I guess I have been a bit selfish lately, but I want you to know that just because I haven't spent that much time with you, doesn't mean I love you any less."

"I know you don't." Kat whispered. "I just want to be with you, that's all."

"Then we will." Tommy smiled. "I'm here aren't I? Why don't we go out somewhere? It's only 9:30… I'm sure we could catch a late movie or something."

"I'd like that." Kat smiled as she gave Tommy a hug.

Tommy embraced her, running his hand through her soft golden locks. Although it felt good to have Kat in his arms, he couldn't help but think about Kim… the time they shared at the pond and the kisses they had exchanged. Soon enough, Tommy looked down at Kat, and slowly kissed her lips. Kissing Kat and having Kim's image in his mind, sent mixed emotions plummeting everywhere. He quickly pulled away from the kiss and stared intensely into Kat's eyes.  
  
"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." Kat replied back.


	13. Chapter 13 Rising Of Jealousy

Endless Roads

****

Chapter 13 - Rising of Jealousy

Kim sat on her bed early the next morning thinking about what Jason had told her the night before. He was right about what he said. 

__

"… All I can say is that you two better be careful. Because honestly, at the end of this, either you or Kat are going to be hurt… there's no way out of that. And you better be ready."

She couldn't get it out of her mind. Someone _would_ get hurt at the end and she knew it would be her. How could she possibly think that Tommy and her would ever get a happy ending? There was just no way for that to happen as long as Tommy was happily involved with Kat. Kim rubbed her eyes in frustration, sick of thinking about the already over-thought-about topic. So instead of continuing sulking over her complicated life, Kim got up from her bed and headed towards the kitchen.

Jason was hard at work cooking breakfast when Kim entered the room. The smell of pancakes and eggs smothered the room making Kim hungry.

"Good morning." Kim muttered.

Jason quickly turned around to see Kim taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Hey." He replied back. "You slept in late."

  
"Really? What time is it?" she asked.

"It's 12:30."

"Oh wow… I must have been tired."

"Yeah, probably."

"So where's Lace?" Kim asked.

"She went out for a run. She was waiting for you to wake up so you could join her, but you just wouldn't wake up."

"Oh." Kim muttered.

Soon, there was a quick silence between the two.

"Jason could we talk?" Kim quietly asked. "It just seems like we haven't had one of our talks in a while."

"Yeah, sure. What about?"

"I think you know what about."

"Oh… I see." Jason mumbled, as he took a seat across from Kim. "Well what's the problem?"

  
"I-It's just that… I can't get what you said to me out of my head."

  
"What I said about you and Tommy?"

"Yeah."  
  
"Maybe because it's the truth?"

"I know it's the truth Jason." Kim replied. "But what bugs me is that I don't know what to do about it. You don't know how Tommy makes me feel."

"Kim… he may make you feel good about yourself for the first time in years, but what are you going to do? Are you just going to ignore the fact that Kat even exists?"

"Are you kidding me? You really think I'm that heartless. Obviously no."

"Well then what, Kim? You can't continue what you're doing with Tommy if he's still involved with her."

"Well then how can I stop this?" Kim whispered.

"Stop what?"

"Feeling this way." Kim added. "I'll say that I'll stop, but once I see him, I forget everything that I had ever promised myself."  


"I don't know what to say about that Kim. I know you want to be happy and I want to see you happy as well, but if you get yourself further into this, I know you'll get hurt, and I don't want to see that."  
  
"I'm stuck, aren't I?" Kim quietly replied.

Suddenly the two were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"Hey you guys!" Lacey had exclaimed, as she entered the apartment.

"Hey Lace." Jason and Kim had replied. 

"So how was the run?" Kim asked.

"It was good." Lacey smiled. "Really hot though."

"I see." Kim responded.

"Hey Kim, want to head to the mall later, I really need to go shopping for some new stuff."

"Yeah sure." Kim nodded. "I guess I could use some shopping time to get my mind off of things."

"What?" Lacey replied, confused.

"Nothing." Jason shook his head. "She's just a little hung over the whole Tommy deal still."  
  
"Oh." Lacey nodded.

"Well hey, before you guys go, I better tell you this now." Jason replied.

"What?" Kim asked.

"I was talking to Rocky last night, and he invited us over to his place for dinner."  
  
Kim paused. "Invited all of us?"

"Well… he didn't exactly specify certain people, it sounded like an open invite to me."

"Well maybe I'll just stay behind, you guys can go."

"No Kim, you have to come." Lacey begged.

"I'm not going to a dinner, where half of the people that will be there hate me.

"They don't hate you." Jason replied.

"Still, I know it's going to be awkward being there, I might as well save myself from the humiliation."

"Well if you're not going, I'm not going." Lacey responded.

"Lacey, no. Do not ruin your night because of me."

  
"Your already ruining the night for me by not going."

Kim paused and stared at Jason with irritation. She knew Lacey wasn't going to give this one up until she got her way.

"FINE! I'll come." Kim stammered. "You happy now?"  
  
"Very." Lacey smiled.

"Well go take shower and we'll head out." Kim snarled. "You're all sticky."  
_______________________________________

****

Two Hours later at Tommy's apartment…

Tommy sat in his living room, silently watching TV trying to distract himself from his thoughts of Kim and Kat. For hours now, all he thought about was how hurt Kat was for that split moment the night before. He could see how angry she was at him from the look on her face. Usually it wouldn't bug him, but for that moment it did, knowing he had been kissing Kimberly behind her back. He just wished that he didn't have the feelings he had for Kim, but it was just so hard to resist them. Because this was someone that he had cared so much for and meant so much. He wanted to do everything in his power to help her feel better, and of course spending time with her wasn't so bad either. Unfortunately, things just had to be the way they were, and it was frustrating.

Tommy was suddenly startled by a knock at the door. He quickly got up from the couch, made his way to the door, and opened it.

"Jason." Tommy replied. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Uh… is Kat here?" Jason asked.

"No. She went to work."

"Good. I need to talk to you." Jason replied eagerly, letting himself into the apartment.

"What about?" Tommy asked.

"It's about you and Kim." Jason sighed as he turned around to stare Tommy straight in the eye.

"Why what's going on?" Tommy replied, with concern.

"I think you know what's going on, Tommy." Jason sternly said.

"You've been talking to Kimberly I'm guessing."

"Yeah, I have… and I've got a couple of questions to ask you."

"Look… I'm trying to be there for her alright?"

"Trying to be there for her? What, by kissing her?"

"She told you that." Tommy sighed.

"Yes, Tommy. Kim tells me everything. And I can't believe what you're doing to her!"  
  
"Excuse me?"

"Your dragging her around, taking her to places where you both obviously have made many romantic memories, and your kissing her, making her think that you two could possibly have a chance!" Jason snapped.

"I know that it's wrong because I'm with Kat, Jase, but you don't understand…"

"You can't let this get any further, Tommy. You're just gonna make Kim hurt all over again." Jason interrupted. "You've got her thinking that you're her way into gaining her normal life back."

"Well isn't that a good thing? She wants to get better."

"It's not a good thing when your way in helping her is by cheating on your girlfriend!"

Tommy paused.

"Look, I know you make her happy, and in ways she makes you feel the same way. But you're with Kat, and I know your just going to break her heart at the end of all this."

"What makes you so sure?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jason snapped. "Are you saying that your willing to end things with Kat just for her?"

"No, I didn't say that."

"And that's exactly my point!" Jason exclaimed. "If your going to continue your relationship with Kat, you better just stay away from Kim before you hurt her."

"I can't just do that Jase."  
  
"Well your going to have to if you don't want to see her hurt."

"Obviously I don't want to see her hurt, but I can't just stay away from her."

Jason paused. This was a very difficult topic to deal with. 

"Tommy, do you honestly love her?"

"As much as I hate to admit it for Kat's sake, but yes… I do."

"Then you'll do this for her."

"Jason…" Tommy mumbled.

"Kimberly's my best friend… my little sister, and I am sick and tired of watching her go through devastation after devastation… I just don't want to see her go through more.   
__________________________________________

Lacey and Kim slowly walked up to Rocky's front door. Already, they could hear the beat of music pounding through the windows and the laughter of guests. Lacey quickly pushed the doorbell and seconds later the front door swung open. Kim and Lacey's eyes immediately met Rocky's. As soon as Rocky saw Kim, he gave a blank stare, then suddenly his face brightened with a warm smile.

"Kim, Lacey… come in!" He proclaimed.

"Hey, Rocky." Kim mumbled. "Thanks for inviting us."

"Sure, no problem." He nodded.

"Is Jason here yet?" Lacey asked.

"Nope. I'm sure he'll be here soon, though."  


"Oh okay." Lacey responded.

"Adam and the rest are in the family room right now… you can go ahead and join them."

"Oh all right." Kim replied, a little nervous. She didn't want to rush to go see them. "Uh… is it okay if I use your washroom first?"

"Yeah, go ahead. It's just down there and take a left." Rocky replied, as he pointed down the hall.

"Okay, thanks." Kim smiled, and made her way towards it.

Inside, she quickly shut the door behind her and stood there staring at her reflection in the mirror. She slowly combed her fingers through her hair and took deep breaths, shutting her eyes to collect her thoughts. Her heart was beating from nervousness and she didn't know which reason was the cause. Was it because of Billy and Aisha's negative feelings towards her, or seeing Tommy again, knowing there were feeling between them two that she wasn't allowed to share? Either way, she couldn't just stay in the washroom the whole night, so she gathered up her strength to make her way out of there.

Kim slowly walked out of the washroom and headed towards the family room, which was just around the corner. She could already hear their voices from the distance, distinctly Rocky's. As soon as she made that final turn around the corner, all heads had turned to face her while she entered the room. The voices soon became silent and tension could already be felt.

"Hey Kim." Adam quickly replied.

Kim smiled back at him, grateful that he had broken the awkward silence within the room.  


"Hey." She muttered. "How…is everyone?"

"Good." Tanya responded, as did Rocky and Adam.

Kim's eyes quickly scanned the room. There was everybody sitting around the coffee table. Two people that immediately caught Kim's attention was Tommy and Kat. He had his arm wrapped around her, with her head gently resting on his shoulder. The moment she saw that display she immediately took her eyes away from the sight, and put them on Aisha and Billy. The pair sat the furthest into the room, trying not to make eye contact with her. Kim could tell from their faces that they were displeased by her presence, which made things very awkward for her. Soon she spotted Lacey sitting on a couch beside Adam and Tanya and quickly joined her.

The rest of the time, Kim had just sat there listening to the others talking about their lives and things going on at work. And while they were talking, Kim couldn't help but slip a few glimpses towards Kat and Tommy. The sight of them sharing their affection to one another was something she couldn't stand. The lips that Kat had been touching at that moment, were the ones Kim had touched the day before. A little smirk came upon Kim's face from the thought of how angry Kat would be if she only knew. But the fact was, Kat was his, and it was something Kim could never change. It was hard sitting there knowing those two were right there in front of her, and that Tommy found it to be no problem being with Kat and showing his affection right in front of Kim. Kim looked at his face, and she couldn't see any sign of awkwardness. She found it slightly insulting that the guy didn't ease up on his public display of affection for the sake of Kim, but what did she expect him to do. 

Luckily, the ring of the doorbell interrupted everyone's conversations and Rocky quickly ran to the door to answer it. Jason had finally arrived, and Kim's spirits quickly lifted. There was someone who she could talk to and trust to bring her into a conversation. Jason entered the room, and immediately sat beside Kim, knowing that she needed his company. 

"How are things going?" Jason whispered to her.

"Not so good." She whispered back, with a very uncomfortable look on her face.

Jason easily read the look on her face and automatically knew what she was talking about. Behind her, he could see Tommy and Kat and their "PDA". A look of disappointment fell upon Jason, knowing that he was right and that Tommy was hurting Kim all over again. He looked back down at Kim who was silently sitting on the couch staring across the room with her back turned to the direction where Tommy was. He knew he had to do something.

________________________________________

Later on during the night, dinner was finally ready. It was the first time Rocky had ever done some serious cooking for all his friends, so he wanted to take as much time to make his dishes perfect. Everyone sat around Rocky's dining table chatting away while waiting for the food to be served. Again, Kim sat quietly, listening to each other's conversations as well as taking a few glimpses of Tommy and Kat. They still were at it, the cuddling and his arm wrapped around her; Kim just couldn't understand it. Did Tommy not get it, or was he completely forgetting that Kim was even there? 

But what bugged Kim the most was knowing she was a complete idiot for leaving Tommy those long five years ago. She had so much going for her back then, and it immediately disappeared as soon as she left. Now the one thing she wanted so badly at that moment now belonged to someone else, which originally was all her's. That arm should have been around her waist, that stare should have been gazing upon her face, and those lips should have been touching hers. In ways, she had gotten some of that back… at least for a little while, but she knew she could never call them her own unless it was official. It was her own fault. 

So she continued sitting at the table silently, while Jason spectated the issue that was occurring right in front of him. He saw those little glimpses Kim had made, and seeing the pain in her eyes while she sat there tore him up inside. He wanted to make it end just by getting up and screaming at Tommy's face, but he knew he couldn't do it in front of everybody.

Finally, Rocky and a couple of others entered the dining room carrying bowls and plates of food. Everyone was in shock at how much food that Rocky had prepared. It surprised many of them, because Rocky wasn't the type of guy to cook for everyone.

"Wow Rocky, this is amazing!" Kat replied, astonished. "You must have worked your butt off today."  
  
"Well… I did have a little help from Tanya." He replied, looking at her.

Tanya blushed. "It was no problem."

"So… what are you waiting for? Dig in!" He exclaimed.

Everyone went for it; spooning heaps of mash potatoes on their plates and piling stacks of sliced roast beef as well. The whole gang had begun to eat and it was wonderful for Kim to see everyone smiling. This was how she imagined it would be when she first returned to Angel Grove. Just a group of friends gathering together smiling and laughing and just having a good time. Not the horrible reality she was in, where two of her closest friends were mad at her, and old feelings for her ex-boyfriend were tearing her up inside.

While she ate, she tried to avoid looking at Tommy and Kat who sat right across from her at the table. And in order to do that, she focused her attention to her plate, keeping head down and trying her best to never bring it up. But it was just too hard, since now that she couldn't see them, she could _hear_ them. She heard every little giggle that Kat had made and the cute, mushy comments Tommy frequently replied. She rolled her eyes everytime, wishing she never heard a word of it. The more she did, she felt as if a fire were burning up inside of her, growing more fierce with every little comment and giggle the couple made.

"Oh sweetie, you got a little gravy on the side of your mouth." Kat replied. "Here… let me get it for you."

Kim avoided bringing her head up to see the two, but she did happen to see Kat's hand grabbing for a napkin.

"Mmm… thank you baby." Tommy responded.  
  
"No problem, honey." She laughed and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. 

That smacking sound of her kissing him had hit a nerve and that was it. Kim had enough. She couldn't sit there any longer listening to those two. It was just too much. She dropped her fork loudly on her plate and pushed her chair back in order to get up. The noise drew everyone's attention to her. Jason could see the ticked off look on her face. Kim's face was red, and he saw the word "pissed" all over it.

Kim stood up. "You know…" she began shyly. "I think I may have left my lights on, on my car. I'm just gonna go check it out… excuse me." She then darted out of the dining room and went through the front door. Everyone could hear the loud slam, and every one of them had a look of curiosity. Tommy in particular.

"You know… she's got me paranoid about mine too." Tommy quickly added. "I'm gonna go check up on it." He said, and quickly ran off after her.

The room remained silent, a little curious at the all-of-a-sudden interruption of their dinner. Jason watched as Tommy left the room and knew what was up. Tommy was going after Kim and he had to prevent it.

"Excuse me…" Jason began to stand up. "I'm gonna help those two out. I'll be right back." He said and ran after Tommy.

Again, the room remained silent, surprised of the amount of people that were leaving at that moment.

"Any body else want to go check up on their car?" Adam quietly asked with a bit of sarcasm.

Soon heads quickly turned to Lacey's direction. Her eyes looked up at all of them as she took a sip of her water. She quickly swallowed it down and reached for her pocket.

  
"Oh would you look at that!" Lacey suddenly exclaimed as she held up a pair of keys. "I got Kim's keys! I think I'm gonna go head out and give them to her." She awkwardly smiled and quickly ran out through the front door.

Everyone remained with blank looks upon their faces.

______________________________

"Kim… please talk to me." Tommy begged as he stood in front of the moping Kimberly who sat on the hood her car with her face resting in her hands crying.

"Go away." She sobbed. Her hair covered her face, which made it impossible for Tommy to see her emotions.

Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps from behind Tommy made Kim lift her head up. Her mascara had smudged all around her eyes from her tears, and at that moment Tommy could see how much he had hurt her. He then turned around to see who was coming.

"Tommy… what did I tell you." Jason snapped at he made his way down to where the two were.

"Jason, this isn't the time." Tommy muttered.

"Uh… yes it is. Now go back in there and forget about this."

"Jason would you just let me and Kim talk… please."

"Hey! What the hell is going on?" Lacey exclaimed as she made her way down the driveway. But nobody answered her, the argument between Tommy and Jason continued on.

"Look, you've hurt her enough for one night, why don't you just leave her alone."

"That's exactly it, that's why I need to talk to her." Tommy then turned back to the tearful Kim. "Kim… I am so sorry about tonight… I never meant to hurt you like this."

"What the hell did you expect Kim to feel when you sat there showing off your feelings for Kat in front of her like that?" Jason yelled.

"Will you just stay out of this!" Tommy snapped.

"Hell no! I will not just stand here and watch you make Kim more miserable than she already is!"

"Why won't you two just stop yelling!" Kim cried.

Both of them turned and looked at Kim. They soon realized that their arguing was just making the matter worse.

"Kim… please. I need for you to understand that I never meant to hurt you." Tommy whispered.

Kim stared into his eyes. She didn't know what to say to him so she remained silent.

"You have to understand that…"

"So what do you expect me to do, Tommy… huh?" Kim quickly snapped. "Just sit there and watch you two go at it? I'm sorry, but I can't."  
  
"You don't have sit there and watch…"

"Well it's kinda hard not to when you're putting it right in my FACE!" She yelled.

"I'm sorry…" Tommy replied again.

"Yeah… you said that already." Kim retorted.

"Look… I just don't want you too feel bad about this."

"Yeah well it's kinda late for that." Kim hissed. "CONGRATULATIONS TOMMY! I'm jealous!" Those last two words were cracked as more emotions were pouring out of her.

The sound of it broke Tommy's heart.

"I told you guys, that this would happen…" Jason muttered.

"Jason!" Kim snapped. "Please… I know, all right! Just please stop going around telling me that what I'm doing is wrong and rubbing it in my face every god damn minute!"

"I'm sorry, Kim." He muttered.

"For god sakes… I've heard those two words way too much in one day that it's starting to lose it's meaning." She hissed.

All the three of them paused, with Lacey standing in the background.

"I'm out of here. I have to go." Kim whispered, quickly getting off her car and heading to the driver's seat.

"W-where are you going?" Lacey, Tommy and Jason had all replied.

"Anywhere! Except here." She yelled.  
  
"You can't leave." Lacey replied.

"And why the hell not?" Kim snapped.

"Because I have your keys."

"Lacey give them to me." Kim hissed, holding out her hand.

"You're not leaving, Kim."

"Lacey, give them to me."

"No." Lacey shook her head.

"GIVE THEM TO ME!" She yelled.

"Lacey… just give them to her." Jason sighed.

Lacey then slowly walked up to Kim and placed the keys in her hands. Kim quickly grabbed them and gave all three intense stares. She then got inside of her car, and slammed her door shut. She started her engine, and quickly pulled out of the driveway, leaving Tommy, Jason and Lacey to watch her speed down the street and out of their sight.


	14. Chapter 14 Missing

Endless Roads

****

Chapter 14 - Missing

The next morning back at the apartment, Lacey paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. Jason sat worryingly at the kitchen table staring at the wall. Beside him, sitting on the table, was his phone. He stared at it, hoping it would just ring. 

Kim hadn't come back home during the night, and since it was already morning, the two were getting really worried about her. Jason knew how upset she was, and he felt like an idiot for letting her leave by herself. And now she just happened to be missing. If only he hadn't told Lacey to give her the keys to her car, both he and Lacey wouldn't be caught up in the situation they were in at that moment.

"Jason… where the hell can she be?" Lacey mumbled. "This isn't like her to just disappear!"

"Just calm down." He responded. "I'm sure she'll turn up."

"What if she doesn't? What if she's out there somewhere lying in a ditch… and all we're doing is sitting here expecting she'll find her way back home like a little lost puppy or something!"

"You're over exaggerating things, Lacey. Just take a deep breath and calm yourself down."

"I can't." Lacey shook her head. "I can't just not do anything. We have to go find her!"

"Lacey… please!"  
Jason was trying his best not to panic. And the only way he could was to pretend that there was nothing wrong, and hope that Kim was all right. 

"I can't believe your just going to sit there and do nothing!" Lacey exclaimed.

"I'm trying to stay positive." Jason replied. "We shouldn't work ourselves up like this when we know nothing."

"This is insane… I mean why hasn't she called?" Lacey spat out. "And where on earth could she have possibly been during the whole night? I know I'm new here, but I doubt that there's anything absolutely exciting that's worth staying the whole night for in Angel Grove, unless…"

"Unless what?" Jason asked.

"Unless she left town."

"No…" Jason moaned. "There's no way she would do that. She would never leave town without her stuff and I remember looking in her room. Everything's there."

"You know… Kim was pretty upset last night." Lacey said quietly. "I mean, I saw the anger in her eyes. Something between Tommy and Kat really got to her."

"It's called jealousy." Jason responded, still sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the wall with the phone in his hand.

"Well you know what jealousy does it people."

"What?"

"Have you ever watched Moulin Rouge?" Lacey asked. "The whole _'the jealousy will drive you MAAADD!'_ part?"

Lacey was always known to compare life situations with movies or television.

"No." Jason answered. "And besides, I doubt what happened last night would ever drive Kim insane."

"You never know." Lacey replied. "Kim has been known in the past for being a bit unstable at times."

"You really think it made her crazy?"

"I'm not saying she went mental or anything, but it could have made her been a bit uneasy."

Jason was silent.

"And you know… now that I think of it, maybe we were wrong to just let her go. I mean she was really upset, so upset that it could have possibly impaired her judgment while driving."

"Okay, you're scaring me." Jason interrupted. "Could we not think about the worst of this situation? Who knows, maybe she was just driving around and chilled at a park to clear her mind or something."

"Jason… if she did do that, wouldn't she be home by now… I mean, it's almost noon."

Jason let out a huge sigh. "I don't know Lace."

"I think we should call the cops." Lacey muttered, as she crossed her arms.

"No! No cops." Jason responded.

"And why not? Jason, something could seriously be wrong, and it'd be our fault if we didn't do something."

"Kim hates the cops!" He snapped. "You know that. She hates all that chaos that comes when police are involved. After all that's happened with Craig, she vowed that she would never involve herself with anything that the police could get into.

"Well that's something she's going to have to deal with. She shouldn't have left the way she did."

Jason paused.

Suddenly, the ring of the phone startled them. Finally, a call! Jason reached for the phone, hoping that the person on the other line was Kim.

"Kim?" Jason eagerly replied.

"No… it's me Adam."

"Damnit!" Jason whined.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Adam asked.

  
"No… no. It's just…" Jason paused.

"It's just what?"  
  
"Kim…" Jason began. "She hasn't come home yet, and we don't know where she is."

"What…" Adam muttered. "What do you mean she hasn't come home?"

"Exactly what I said… she's not home."

"You're saying she hasn't returned since leaving Rocky's place last night?"

"Yup."

"So she doesn't have a cell… there's no way in contacting her?"

"We tried… Lacey found her phone on her bed, I guess she forgot to bring it."

"Oh my god… where the hell is she?" Adam gasped.

  
"I don't know…" Jason sighed.

"Dude… this is serious. You have to find her."

  
"I know… it's just… where do we even start? She could be anywhere."

"You need to report this to the police." Adam replied.

"I can't." Jason muttered.

"What? What do you mean you can't."

"Just take my word for it, all right? I just can't… there's a lot more behind it that I can't tell you."

"What… there's more secrets now?"

"NO! It's not that… It's more of a personal thing."

"Well you can't just let this be. You need to tell them so there's word out that Kim's missing."

"I don't want to call them unless I know for sure that Kim's in trouble, that's all."

"Well Kim could be dead for all we know if you wait." Adam hissed. "Listen to me Jason… whether it's an emergency or not, you should call the police."

Jason paused.

"Listen… I gotta go. I'm meeting up with Tommy in a bit, but promise me, you'll call them. All right?" Adam replied.

  
Jason was silent.

"Jason! You hear me? Call them… now!"

"Fine." Jason nodded. "I will."

"Good. I'll call you later to find out what's up."

"ADAM WAIT!" Jason yelled.

"What?"

"You're meeting up with Tommy?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Do me a favor." Jason replied. "Don't tell him about this."  
  
"Why?" Adam asked, a bit confused.

"I don't want him worrying unless we know for sure what's up with Kim, okay?"

"Umm… okay." Adam responded skeptically.

"Just please do that for me." Jason begged.

"Uh… yeah sure. Okay."

"Kay, thanks bud. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, see ya." Adam replied and hung up.

"Who was it?" Lacey asked.

"Adam." Jason replied. His face was motionless. Tommy could not know about this. Knowing that Kim may have been in trouble would only cause him to grow more attached to her, leaving Kat suspicious or even worse, heartbroken. And he knew Kat. She wasn't going to just let Kim take her man; she would fight back. And that was not what Kim needed. So he had to keep Tommy away, no matter what.

"What did he say?"

"He said we should tell the police." He answered, turning his head to look up at her.

"Good." Lacey nodded. "I agree with him."

Jason was silent once again. 

"Jason?"

"What?"

"Don't act like you never said it. I heard you talking."  
  
"What are you talking about?"

"You're gonna keep this from Tommy, aren't you."  
  
"He doesn't need to know."

"But Jason…"

"Lacey…" He interrupted her, giving her a tense stare.

"Why are you acting like this, Jase?" She asked. "This isn't like you."

Jason sighed and tapped his finger against the table. "I'd do anything to protect Kim's feelings." He muttered. "I don't care what I have to do."

"Jason, it's not up to you what happens to Kim. You gotta let it go. Tommy is still Kim's friend, he has a right to know."  
  
Jason did not respond. He still remained staring at the wall.

"Jason…" Lacey whispered.

  
"You call them. I don't think I can do it." He replied, changing the subject. He passed the phone over to Lacey, stood up from his chair and made his way to his bedroom. He needed to lie down to think, and to pray that Kim was all right.

Lacey remained in the living room, holding the phone in her hands. She stared at it for a moment, then made her way into the kitchen to get a phonebook. She quickly looked up the number to the police department and dialed it.

"Hi… umm… I'd like to report a missing person." She replied. "Name? Uh… Kimberly Hart."

______________________________________


	15. Chapter 15 Finding Kim

****

Note: I do portray Kat as a bitter and cocky character in this chapter, so if you like her, you might be upset. And if you don't know already, I don't like her. Haha! Any ways, for those who've reviewed, I thank you SO MUCH! You're positive comments have made me want to continue and I really hope you enjoy the rest of the story. If not… well thanks for reading it any ways.

Endless Roads

****

Chapter 15 - Finding Kim

Lacey's POV

A whole day had gone by, and still we had no clue where Kimberly was. I called the police the day before, but they were no help. Jason and me had to finally realize that if we wanted to find Kim we'd have to do it ourselves. 

We drove around Angel Grove to possible locations where Kim could have been, but we had no luck. Like before, Jason tried to stay positive, hoping that Kim would safely return back to the apartment. But it was hard to remain calm soon as night was approaching. The feeling of someone whom you care about, being missing and possibly in danger was the most horrible feeling in the world.

I was so upset at myself for listening to Jason the night back at Rocky's. If I had only listened to myself and never have given Kim those keys, we would never have been in this mess in the first place. I repeatedly thought about it in my mind, growing even more furious at myself than before. While I sat in Jason's car, I closed my eyes hoping that this was just a dream, but it wasn't. I opened them only to see the dark streets ahead of me as Jason slowly drove down them.

I turned my head to look at him. He had his eyes fixed on the road, taking quick glances at the sidewalks, hoping to see Kim walking down one. Although he wanted to stay calm I could see right through him. He was worried, maybe even more than I was. After all, Kim and Jason were like family. They had known each other for years. But for a man, who seemed to care so much for Kim, Jason had been dealing with the situation a bit disappointingly. He made it quite clear to me, as well as Rocky, Adam and Tanya (whom he _had_ told) that it was absolutely forbidden to tell Tommy anything about Kim. I tried to convince him that it was a bad idea, but he was being so stubborn about it. 

__

"If he knows, his feelings for Kim are only going to become stronger. It's going to hurt Kat, and it will hurt Kim." I remember him saying. _"He's better off not knowing, that way he goes on with his life and Kat, and he won't be falsely leading Kimberly on with his feelings."_

But Jason was wrong, he was absolutely wrong. Tommy loved Kim. I could tell by the way that he talked and looked at her the night of Rocky's party. I stood there watching the two, and it was painfully obvious the feelings that they both felt and shared for each other, were there. And for Jason to forbid it was totally out of line, but it was, however, smart in a way since it would prevent Kim from heartbreak, because we knew Tommy could never leave Kat for Kim. But even though, it was wrong to keep it from him, and I knew that once Tommy would find out, there would be more than Kimberly's feelings to be worried about.

"Has it ever occurred to you that Rocky, Adam or Tanya may have leaked the news to Tommy?" I quietly asked.

"Why are you bringing this up again?" Jason sighed.

"Because I think it's wrong Jason!" I exclaimed. "And what about Billy and Aisha? Are you going to keep this from them too? I'm sure they wouldn't be pleased about this secret kept hidden from them either."

"I'm not hiding this secret from them, okay?" Jason responded. "I'll tell them once I get around to it."

"And when's that going to be?" I asked.

"Tonight… okay? If you want, I'll do it tonight."

I rolled my eyes. "And what about Kat, huh, Jase? What if she finds out?"

Jason took a moment before answering. "I haven't thought about that." He muttered.

"OH WOW!" I exclaimed with sarcasm. "Finally, something you haven't thought out yet. Well Jason, I guess your perfect plan _isn't _so perfect after all."

"I'm only doing what's best for Kim." He replied.

"And what about you, Jason?" I asked. "Have you ever thought what this could do to your friendship with Tommy? You guys are best friends, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to risk it all just for Kim's sake."

  
Jason didn't answer.

"Or would you?"

"Lacey, could we not think about this right now, please."

"Oh! So I'm guessing you haven't thought that out either."

"Listen, why don't we focus on finding Kim first, before we worry about all that stuff."

I didn't say anything. I was just getting way too sick and tired of arguing with him.

"Lacey… I just don't want this becoming a big deal, okay?"

I still didn't say a word. A _big deal_? Kimberly is missing and could possibly be in trouble! Of course it was a big deal. 

Jason gave out a big sigh and continued driving. The remainder of the trip back to the apartment was in complete silence.

_________________________________

****

Kat's POV

After I had gotten off work, I decided to take a walk downtown during the night to take a look at things. For once I was feeling great, now that Tommy and me were okay again. For the past few days we had spent a great amount of time together just like the old days and I couldn't have been any happier. Somehow something in Tommy had changed; he was smiling more and we were interacting more. Whatever had made Tommy act the way he was, I wanted it to keep up because it was doing great things to our relationship.

The last week was stressful. The fights I had with Tommy definitely did not make me feel the greatest and I was actually worried where our relationship was going. Tommy was just going over to Jason's apartment way too often and I knew it was because of Kim's sake, and it really got to me. I hated every moment, thinking he was spending his time with her. Every time the phone rang, it was always Jason, luring Tommy into some plan for the day. And every time, Tommy just _had_ to go, leaving me with nothing. But now that I thought about it, lately Tommy wasn't getting any phone calls from Jason, which was good. Maybe the two had a fight, and weren't speaking, which was great news for me, because I got more attention. If that were the case, I hoped Tommy and Jason would never speak to each other ever again.

I continued on walking down the sidewalk, looking into store windows. I saw a couple of outfits that I wanted and a few things that I knew that Tommy would love. And with things going so smoothly between Tommy and me, a gift for him would be a great idea to show my admiration. Maybe if I didn't have anything to do the next day I would come back here and buy a few of the things. 

I always loved walking downtown at night. The environment was always so friendly. It was something I had always loved about living in Angel Grove, the great people. The streetlights brightly lit the streets before me, as people walked by with smiles upon their faces. I smiled back to them and continued my walk. Suddenly I had a craving for something to eat and just in time I saw a sign for a café a couple blocks up. Hopefully they had something that I would like. 

So I made my way up the street, weaving myself through the crowds of people. I carefully crossed the streets, knowing that some of the drivers downtown were really crazy. A lot of people had made complaints about it to City Hall, but nothing really ever happened. So everyone just spreaded around the word to be extra cautious when walking downtown, and that's exactly what I did.

I safely made it to the other side of the street, and quickly made my way over to the café. Just before I reached it, someone bumped into me, knocking my purse out of my hands. It had dropped to the ground and I quickly bent down to pick it up.

"Oh, I'm so… sorry." The person replied, as I got up.

"Kim… what a coincidence." I said.

There was a look of shock on her face that got me quite curious. I didn't know why she was reacting the way she did. It was like she had never seen me before.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I-I'm fine." She answered, looking as if she wanted to avoid eye contact.

"So how are things?" I asked again. Usually when I was around her, I felt a little threatened, but now with everything going so well, I knew I had nothing to worry about. And maybe this was a great chance to rub it in her face.

"Things… are… um… they're all right." She nodded. "They're all right."

"Oh, well… that's good." I replied, a little curious to Kim's awkwardness.

"So how about you?" She asked. "How are things going for you?"

I smiled. I knew exactly what to say. "Things are terrific! Words cannot express how happy I am right now."

"Oh really." Kim nodded, with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I just can't believe how well things are going between me and Tommy. It's like we've fallen in love all over again."

Kim remained nodding. I looked at her and I noticed what I was saying was getting to her. It was perfect, so I continued on.

"I mean, the way he holds me… it just feels like… the greatest feeling in the world."

"Well that's good to hear." Kim muttered as her face began to turn a bright shade of red.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Tommy's such an amazing guy, but I'm sure _you _already know that."  


"Excuse me?" she responded with an intense glare.

"Oh come on Kim. It's not like I don't know you both went out before. I just meant, you already know what a great guy Tommy is."

Kim nodded back at me, this time with a slight frown. I smiled again.

"I'm just really glad I have a guy like him in my life who really loves me."

"Wow… that's great Kat." Kim said bitterly.

"Yeah. And I'm sure Tommy is grateful he has me in his life as well." I added. "I swear, we're perfect for each other."

"Well… you're really… _sure _of things aren't you." Kim mumbled.

"Oh I'm very sure." I nodded again. "Tommy and I are absolutely _deeply_ in love with each other than before."

Kim bit her lip. "Wow… that's… good."

The look in her eyes was priceless. I could see she was getting irritated, which was a sign that my message was loud and clear: Tommy was mine if she ever thought she could ever have a chance.  


"And to be perfectly honest… the sex ain't bad either." I whispered.

I saw the affect those words had on Kimberly. He eyes widened, as her face became fuming red. She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath.

"Well nice to know your sex life's going well." Kim quickly spat out her words. "Listen, I gotta go. So I'll talk to you later." She said and darted off upsettingly.

Before I was able to say a word, Kim ran off towards the end of the block where the crosswalk was located. I turned around with a huge grin on my face. I left the winner.

But before I entered the café, everyone, including me was distracted by a huge screeching noise, which sounded like the breaks of a car. The screech was then followed by a gigantic thud. Screams and gasps were heard everywhere. I turned around to see where it was coming from. Crowds of people gathered around the crosswalk near me… where Kim had ran off too. I immediately pushed myself into the crowd to see, and there, lying before everyone on the hood of a car was Kim, with streams of blood running across her face.  
___________________________________

Lacey sat in her bedroom, staring across at Kim's empty bed. She didn't feel like eating that night, so she stayed in her room. She also couldn't stand being in the same room with Jason, being the stubborn person that he was being.

She just couldn't understand how Jason could keep something this serious from somebody, even if that person was Tommy. Quickly she shook her head, telling herself to forget about it. She knew she had to focus on finding Kim. Where was she, and what could she have possibly been doing? 

Remembering back to that night, she could recall the tears falling down on Kim's cheeks. Tommy had really upset her. Lacey noticed the flirting that was going on between Tommy and Kat at the dinner table and she understood perfectly clear why Kim was upset, or even jealous.

Jealousy was a feeling Lacey hated. It was something she tried to avoid as much as possible. Jealousy made people do crazy things, things that were completely out of character. And knowing Kim, the feeling of jealousy could have easily taken her over. And maybe her disappearing act was a result because of it. Now this worried her. Kim was somewhere out there with no one to talk to, during a time when she needs someone the most. Lacey just hoped Kim would show up soon so she could quit being worried.

The ring of the telephone startled her as she remained sitting on her bed. 

"I'll get it!" Jason called out.

So Lacey continued sitting, silently staring across the room. On Kim's empty bed lay her cell phone and a couple of shirts that she had taken out in order to wear to Rocky's party. Lacey's head was then filled with 'What Ifs'. What if they had never went? What if Lacey never begged her to go to the party in the first place? What if Lacey had never given her the keys? Everything just seemed so frustrating, and Lacey just wanted it to be over.

Suddenly Jason barged through the door, with a frightening look on his face.

"They found her!" he replied.


	16. Chapter 16 Waiting For News

****

Endless Roads

Chapter 16 - Waiting for News

Rocky and Adam rushed down through the hallways of Angel Grove Memorial, frantically searching for Lacey and Jason. Both had received phone calls from Lacey just half an hour before. After learning about Kimberly's accident, the two immediately made their ways to the hospital to join them. They couldn't believe that the police had finally found her after days of being missing. Unfortunately, it took being hit by a car to actually find her. Soon as they had reached the end of the hallway, both spotted the pair sitting quietly in a waiting room. Rocky noticed the worried expressions upon their faces and instantly realized how serious the matter really was.

He swallowed hard and followed Adam who began walking slowly toward their direction. Jason sat hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees, while Lacey sat beside him teary eyed as she continued staring off into space. Adam gently whispered their names. Jason didn't move a muscle, but Lacey instantly got up from her seat and headed over to where Rocky and Adam were standing.

"I'm glad you guys came." Lacey sighed.

  
"Don't mention it. " Adam replied. "How are you holding up?"

Lacey took a moment as tears glided down her cheeks, then shrugged. "I don't know." She sniffed. "Worried… scared. There are just so many emotions right now that I don't even know how to handle myself."

"Hey, it's going to be okay." Adam whispered as he gave her a hug.

"How's Jason?" Rocky quietly asked.

Lacey pulled away from Adam's hug and turned to look over at Jason. "He's not speaking." She muttered. "Ever since he learned the news about Kim, he hasn't said a word."

"He must be taking this really hard." Rocky replied back.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"So have you heard anything on Kim's condition?" Adam asked.

"No. No one has come out to tell us anything yet."

"God." Rocky sighed. "I can't believe this is happening."

Silence grew amongst the room as the three remained standing near the entrance of the waiting area. Lacey took a quick peak down the hall to see if any doctors were heading her way, but unfortunately there was no sign of any doctors, just nurses and patients in wheelchairs and stretchers.

She shut her eyes tightly, hoping that news would come her way soon. In the mean time she continued waiting patiently along with Rocky and Adam. They all stood there with arms crossed and eyes glued onto the floor, while the mood within the room began to grow tense. For ten minutes there was nothing but pure silence with the exception of the faint sound of the phone ringing from down the hall at front desk.

Lacey then brought her eyes up only to see Jason rocking himself back and forth in his chair. Out of all four that were in that room, Jason was definitely the most worried. She wanted to walk over to him and give him comfort, but she knew Jason, and at times like these she knew he wanted his space.

"Ever since Kim disappeared…" Lacey began to say, breaking the silence. "All I've thought about were the worst things possible that could have happened to her. And to know that she was all right that whole time, until tonight… it just kills me."

"What do you mean?" Rocky asked.

"I mean, what if I tried harder?" She responded. "If I had only looked harder for her, we could have found her before any of this could have happened."

"Lacey, no one could have ever predicted what happened tonight. So don't blame yourself." Adam said to her sternly.

"I can't help it." She muttered. "She was downtown today, and we were too. If we had looked hard enough, we could have found her, and we would be sitting at home right now instead of being here hoping that she'll even live."

"Lacey, shutup!" Jason suddenly bursted out. "Just shut up all right! Kim **is **going to live, and don't you dare even doubt that!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, which soon was followed by more silence.

"Lacey, where's Kat?" Jason asked.

"Kat? What's Kat doing here?" Adam replied with concern.

"Kat was there when Kim got hit." Lacey began. "She told me that she bumped into Kim before the accident happened. And she was the one who called the ambulance… I'm guessing when she gave the police Kim's name, they immediately called us."

"Man…" Rocky gently shook his head. "And to know that Kat didn't even know about Kim's disappearance. I mean, if Kat knew, she could have prevented…"

"Rocky, don't say it." Jason interrupted.

"Sorry."   
  
"Where is Kat right now?" Adam responded.

"I think she's down in the cafeteria." Lacey replied.

"And has she called Tommy or anything?" He asked. "I mean, I know Jason doesn't want Tommy knowing stuff, but this is real serious."

"That's why we need to find her." Jason replied eagerly.

"And what, Jason?" Lacey snapped. "When you find her, what are you going to do? Demand her not to call Tommy? Just face the fact that he is going to find out either way."

"You know what? I am trying here!" He snapped back. "I'm trying my best not to see Kim get hurt again, while you are…"

"FOR GOD SAKES JASON, SHE'S IN THE FUCKING HOSPITAL!" Lacey interrupted. "You don't want to see her hurt, but look where your plan has led to. She's in a damn hospital bed in whatever condition she may be in, and you are forgetting the fact that she has friends who should know about what just happened tonight!"

"I know she has friends, Lacey. I'm not an idiot."

"Really?" Lacey responded. "Where's Billy, Jason? Where's Billy and Aisha?"

"I-I haven't gotten the chance to tell them yet…" He stuttered.

  
"Well why don't you get your mind off Tommy and go call them."

"Fine! I'll call them, but you have to find her."

"Find who?" A voice replied from behind.

Everyone turned to see Kat standing at the doorway with a tray of coffees in her hand.

"Uh… nothing." Jason shook his head and made his way down the hall to the pay phones.

Kat made an awkward face while watching Jason walk away; she then quickly took a seat and began drinking her coffee.

"If only I knew that Rocky and Adam were here I would have gotten them coffee too." She replied.

"Oh, no that's alright Kat." Adam muttered.

"Alright." She responded. "Where's Jason going?"

"He's making some phone calls." Lacey answered.

"Well… if he intends on calling Tommy, tell him not to bother."

Everyone froze.

"W-why? Did you… c-call him already?" Rocky asked.

Kat nodded. "Of course. He said he'll be here soon."

The room went silent once again as Adam, Lacey and Rocky all exchanged glances. Lacey gave a gesture to Adam asking what they were going to do now, but all Adam could do was shrug back.

Lacey suddenly stormed out of the room and down the hall to where Jason was and smacked her hand over the keypad before Jason could dial any number.

"What?" Jason asked.

"Well Jason, looks like you're nightmare's about to come true." She sneered. "Kat just told us that she called Tommy."

Jason shut his eyes in disappointment and hung the phone back up.

"Damnit." He hissed.

"So… since you're the smart one… what do you suppose we do?" she asked sternly.

"Just shutup." He answered with bitterness.  


Lacey gave a little chuckle. "Is that it? Well if that was the answer to all our problems, I would have done that a long time ago."

"You know what… your sarcasm isn't needed right now."  
  
"And your retardedness isn't needed either." Lacey shot back.

"Fine… then what do you suppose we do?"

"So are you finally gonna let your ego down and let me call the shots now?"

"Whatever."

"Fine then. First things first… call Billy and Aisha. I'll handle Tommy."

Jason nodded and turned back to the payphone and slipped a quarter in. Lacey made her way back to the waiting room and sat back down. Honestly there was nothing she could do now. Tommy was going to find out whether or not Jason approved.  
____________________________________________

Half an hour had passed before a frantic Tommy suddenly barged into the waiting room. He came in running, out of breath, with the look of great concern on his face. Lacey saw it, and took a deep breath knowing that it wasn't going to be easy trying to explain what had happened during the past few days.

He rushed over to Kat, who welcomed him with open arms. They both shared an intense hug, holding each other for minutes as if Kat were the one who had gone through the horrible traumatic accident. Lacey simply rolled her eyes at the sight, probably a gesture Kim had made millions of times from looking at the two.

Lacey noticed that Jason hadn't returned to the waiting room after calling Aisha and Billy. She knew it mostly had to do with Tommy arriving and how he didn't want to be there to see him come in. Adam and Rocky sat on the other side of the room away from Tommy and Kat's display, focusing their eyes on Lacey and exchanging awkward looks.

Lacey let out a loud cough in order to interrupt the pair that stood before her. Tommy immediately let go of his embrace, and turned towards her. His eyes were widened from deep concern as Lacey stared into them. She could see signs of tears, which sent a trigger of great guilt to her heart knowing how hard it would be to explain to him all that had happened. 

"How's Kim." Tommy whispered to her, as his body trembled afraid of what he was about to hear.

Lacey shut her eyes, and slowly shook her head. "We don't have any news just yet." She explained.

Tommy remained standing motionless, with the sign of obvious fear all over his face. Kat gently laid her hand on his shoulder, guiding him to a seat. He quickly responded by turning around and sitting down on a couch right across from Lacey. 

Lacey couldn't look at him. She couldn't deal with thinking of how little he knew. For that past few days she had gone through so many emotions and distress from being worried as hell for the well being of Kim. And the whole time, thanks to Jason, he had no idea what had happened. She quickly covered her mouth preventing any sounds of sobbing from coming out, and immediately got up from her seat and left the room.

"Where's she going?" Tommy asked.

"Leave her." Adam muttered. "She just needs some time to herself."

__________________________________________________________

Lacey walked down the hallways, passing the elevators and front desk. With her head down and arms crossed, millions of thoughts had rushed through her mind. She felt lost and empty, not being able to know what to do. And as she continued walking, she brought her eyes up to see a silent and motionless Jason sitting on a chair along the side of the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Silence.

"Jason?"  
  
"Is Tommy here yet?" He muttered.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"I-I can't be in there Lace." Jason responded. "If I see him, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to control myself."

"Control yourself from what?" Lacey asked with frustration.

"From beating his ass."

"Excuse me?" 

"I never told you this, Lace… but I blame him." He muttered.

"Jason…" Lacey shook her head.

"Think whatever you want Lacey… nothing's going to change my mind."

Lacey couldn't reply. She finally realized that Jason's silence the whole time was caused by anger, and she knew he needed a person to place the blame and Tommy made the perfect fit.

"Jason… it's not entirely his fault."

  
Silence, once again.

"I'm going to tell him." She replied. Jason quickly looked up at her with a glare. "And you can say whatever you want… but nothing's going to change **my** mind."

_____________________________________________

Lacey made her way back to the waiting room where everyone else was, walking in slowly with her arms crossed. As she made her entrance, she noticed Aisha and Billy sitting at the back of the room with Adam and Rocky. Aisha instantly stood up and made her way over. Her body trembled as she stood. 

Lacey looked back at Billy whose eyes were focused on her. He had a worried expression as he stared, probably wondering if Lacey had any news.

"Lacey, I know I've been a bitch lately…" Aisha quietly began to say. Lacey looked back at her. The nervousness and guilt that appeared throughout her body language was impossible to ignore. Lacey couldn't help but feel sympathy for her, assuming that Aisha had finally realized how wrong she was to treat Kim the way she had. "But you have to tell me that there's good news… there just has to be."

Lacey's heart sank listening to the emotions that Aisha let out. There was no news she could share, but she really wished that she did. Slowly she shook her head as she stared into Aisha's saddened eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't." she managed to say. Aisha shut her eyes, and slowly turned around and sat right back next to Billy. Words could not express how badly Lacey felt while watching Aisha walk back to her seat. Before her, Aisha was Kimberly's best friend, and looking at where their friendship had come to now was heartbreaking. But what was even worse was the matter that still remained unresolved. 

Lacey turned her head only to meet the eyes of Tommy's. He looked up at her with a calmness she hadn't seen in days. Her lips trembled soon realizing she still had an agenda to deal with. She needed to pull aside Tommy, speak to him, and tell him absolutely everything. It was her priority to let him know.

"Excuse me, are you friends or family of Ms… Kimberly Hart?" A voice replied from behind, startling her.

Lacey instantly turned herself around to see a tall man in a white doctor's coat, holding a clipboard in his hands.

"Yes… we're her friends." Lacey nervously muttered.

"Hi, I'm Doctor McCarthy." He replied, sticking out his hand for her to shake. 

Lacey stuck out hers and both shared a quick handshake. Soon as she let go, she remembered that Jason was still out in the hallway sitting alone. 

"Doctor could you just hold on for a second. I have a friend who should be here to listen to what you have to say." She replied. Dr. McCarthy nodded as Lacey ran out into the hallway. 

"Jason!" she called out, grabbing the attention of others passing by within the hall. Jason quickly lifted his head and looked at her. She made a gesture with her hands telling him to make his way over, and that was exactly what he did.

Lacey then walked back in the room and stood beside the others. Jason soon followed and finally it was time to hear the news.  
  
"Well doctor… how is she?" Tommy quickly asked.

"Well, as of right now, Kimberly is currently in surgery. Unfortunately, we found that there is some internal bleeding within her abdomen." Dr. McCarthy replied.

Lacey looked down to the floor afraid to hear what he had to say. She was hoping that the words _'She's fine'_ would be said, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"Other injuries include multiple fractures to her left leg and a dislocation of the left shoulder, but it's nothing a simple cast couldn't fix." he continued.

Jason brought his face up, glad to hear that nothing permanent or critical was said. 

"However, besides the internal bleeding, there is another factor that has got us all concerned."

"Well w-what is that?" Jason replied.

"I'll tell you right now that we haven't exactly looked into it yet, but from what I've seen during surgery, there is a major fracture to Kimberly's skull."

"What?" Lacey sneered. "What do you mean you haven't looked into it yet? It's slmost been two hours and you're just letting this pass by?"

"We have bandaged it up for now, but as of now our major concern is the internal bleeding. Once the bleeding stops we'll bring her in and run some X-ray's on her to see how serious it is."

"And if it is serious?" Jason asked.

"Well then there is the possibility that some brain damage has occurred. But, I highly doubt it. Kimberly must have had hit her head onto the windshield of the car with great impact, but it doesn't look like a critical injury."

Everyone froze, unsure as how to react to what they had just heard. Lacey turned away, trying hard to fight back her tears, while assuring herself that Kim would be just fine.

"What are her chances of making a full recovery?" Adam began to ask.

"Well it depends on what we find in the X-ray's later on, but the chances are very high. I harshly doubt any critical or permanent damage will remain."  


Although what he said was positive, Jason just hoped that all of this was a joke. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to collect himself together, but it seemed impossible to stay calm at that moment.

"Unfortunately, that's all the news I can give you for now." Dr. McCarthy replied. "I'll come back as soon as I can with another update on Kimberly for you, but right now I have to get back to work."

"Thank you doctor." Tommy replied as Dr. McCarthy turned and walked back down the hall and into the operation room where Kim was. Tommy's grip on Kat tightened from worry. The feeling that he was experiencing at that moment was the most painful he had ever felt.

Lacey slowly took a seat, telling herself that everything was going to be fine beyond that point, and that everything would go uphill from there. She just hoped to god that after the surgery, the X-rays would come out positive and that there would no longer be any more worries. The only thing left to do now, was to talk to Tommy.


	17. Chapter 17 Telling The Truth

I apologize for the long update. I have been really busy with school and work that it's been hard for me to update. But luckily, I've finally been able to find some time to update… so here's the next chapter!

Also… I made a banner for this fic a long time ago, but I didn't find any use for it since I don't have this fic up on a site anywhere, but I thought that those who enjoy my story would like to see it anyway. So if you wanna see this banner that I made, simply copy this url and paste it on your browser:  
http://members.shaw.ca/lindsayb/endlessroads.jpg

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Endless Roads

Chapter 17 - Telling the Truth

The room was intense, quiet and awkward as everyone remained standing after Dr. McCarthy had left the room. No one was sure how react towards the news that they had just received. 

Jason paced back and forth near the entranceway of the waiting room, while Lacey kept to herself, sitting in a corner in absolute silence. Both of them felt fear and worry knowing that Kim ended up right back in the hospital again; a place that Jason knew Kim never wanted to be in ever again. His effort to make sure that she never had to go through the same traumatic experiences that she had before, had failed, and he took all the blame for it. Letting Kim leave by herself on the night of Rocky's party was a complete mistake. But at the same time, he was completely frustrated with Kim and Tommy as well, for guiding themselves into such a wreck after all the warning signs he had sent their ways. 

Jason finally stopped his pacing and took a moment to look at Tommy. He stood there, holding onto Kat with the look of pure concern in his eyes. Meanwhile, Jason remained staring at him, thinking how ridiculous it was for Tommy to act the way he was when knowing nothing about the actual situation Kimberly was in. Tommy's worry was nothing compared to his… because he knew nothing. 

As for the rest of them, they just remained where they were, thinking of what they were going to do. Rocky was just in pure utter shock. Nothing this serious had ever happened to anyone whom he had cared for. And to hear all of the happenings in Kim's life was just too overwhelming for him to understand, as he began to experience an unfamiliar feeling of concern and worry. Adam quietly comforted Aisha, who was feeling extremely guilty at the moment. All the things she had put against Kimberly just didn't seem to matter anymore; the only thing that did was Kim getting out of the hospital fine and well.

Billy stood by the window of the room, quietly staring out into the black sky. The light of the moon gently lit his face and reflected off of his glasses. He clenched his jaw shut, trying his hardest to keep his emotions in. He knew that at times like these, the best way to keep everyone calm was to show strength and assure that everything was going to be okay. At least that's what he should have been doing. The emotions of guilt and sadness inside of him kept building up and within time they would most likely burst out.

Jason slowly took a step in front of all of them, and gave out a little cough to grab their attention. Soon after, all heads turned his way, and all their teary eyes stared into his, making what he was about to say even harder to let out. He took a moment to look at all of them, noticing all of emotion-filled expressions on their faces.

"I-I…" He stuttered. "… just want t-to thank you guys… It really means a lot to see all you guys here at a time like this."

"You don't have to thank us Jason. Being here wasn't an option. Kim's our friend, we'd be here no matter what." Adam quickly responded. Jason gave him a quick smile, noticing how strong he was through all of this, and he appreciated it with deep gratitude.

"Any ways, I'm sure that we won't be getting more news anytime soon, and it's almost one in the morning. So… I suggest that you all go home… get some rest… and if there is news, me and Lacey will give you a call."

"No way man." Rocky shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

"Rocky, I'm serious. You should all go home and get some rest. I assure you, I will call all of you if something happens."

"Jason…" Aisha began.

"Aisha… please." Jason begged. "I think it's best that you all go and get some rest."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Billy asked.

Jason nodded back.

Again silence filled the room as everyone stared at each other.

"Okay then." Adam replied. "We'll go."

  
Everyone began gathering their things and headed out of the waiting area. Lacey immediately noticed Tommy leaving, and she was instantly reminded that she still needed to talk to him. She quickly got out of her seat and reached for his arm.

"Tommy." She quickly replied.

Both Tommy and Kat turned to look at her. Jason widened his eyes soon realizing what Lacey was about to do.

"Lacey could I talk to you." He said.

"Jason, no. I need to talk to Tommy." She responded.

"What about?" Tommy asked with concern.

"Lacey, please… don't do this." Jason sneered.

"Don't do what? What's going on?" Tommy asked again.

Lacey slowly turned to Jason and gave him a hard and serious glare. 

"He needs to know." She sternly whispered.

  
"Why are you doing this?" Jason whispered back.

Lacey noticed the desperation in his eyes. She saw how much he didn't want her telling the truth, but she just had to, even if it meant going against Jason's word.

"I told you before that I would… why are you acting so shocked that I am now?"

Jason didn't answer her, but gave her an intense stare.

"Please." He quietly whispered.

"What are you two talking about? What the hells going on here?" Tommy replied.

Lacey gave Jason another glare and turned away.

"Tommy…" Lacey began. "We haven't been honest with you these past few days."

Jason couldn't believe she was going through with it. Anger built up inside of him once again, and the more Lacey spoke the more it grew. It finally came to a point where he couldn't be in the same room with her. Instantly he jetted out of the room, catching Tommy, Lacey and Kat's attention.

"Lacey what's going on here. What the hell were you and Jason arguing about?"  
  
Lacey paused for a moment, realizing there was no turning back at this point.

"It's about Kim." She began. "There's a lot more to it… than her being hit by a car."

Those words suddenly caught all of Kat's attention. More to it than just being hit by a car? Could it have been possible that Lacey had found out about her little conversation with Kim earlier? And was she about to reveal it to Tommy at that moment?

"More to it?" Tommy replied.

"Do you remember the night of Rocky's party?" Lacey asked.

"That was just a few days ago, wasn't it?" He answered.

Lacey slowly nodded, while Kat's suspicions faded away. Nothing happened between her and Kim that night.

"You know how she left the party… by herself?"

"Of course I know… but what does that have to do with what happened tonight?"

  
"It may have a lot to do with what happened tonight." She answered.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked with frustration.  
  
Lacey swallowed hard, not believing that she was about to tell him.

"Kim never came home that night." She whispered. "We waited in the morning, hoping she would show up, but she didn't."

"What are you trying to say?" Tommy mumbled.

"What I'm trying to say is that… Kimberly's been missing during these past few days." Lacey let out. "We reported it to the police and everything, but no one was able to find her until… well today."

A wave of shocked just rushed through Tommy. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What?" He whispered.

Kat couldn't believe what she was hearing either, just realizing that she was probably the first one to see Kimberly after her disappearance.

"I'm so sorry Tommy." Lacey whimpered, as tears began to form in her eyes. "I wanted to tell you, but…"

"Why am I just learning about this now!" He interrupted.

"Jason didn't want you to know." She trembled.

"And why not!" He snapped.  
  
"He wanted you to stay away from Kim after what happened between the both of you at Rocky's party."

Tommy froze, irritated that Lacey just said that in front of Kat.

"Tommy… what is she talking about?" Kat stepped in.

Tommy said nothing, glaring back at Lacey, who froze as well not able to believe that she had just said what she did.

"What happened between you and Kimberly?" She asked.

Still, there was no answer.

"Tommy… what the hell is going on! ANSWER ME!" Kat yelled, hoping that her nightmare wasn't about to come true.

"Kat… I…" He muttered.

"Actually, no. I don't want to know." She interrupted, as tears began to form. "I'm leaving."

"Kat… wait." Tommy replied.

"Take a taxi home… I can't be here right now." She snapped and ran off.

Lacey remained silent as Tommy regained his composure.

"Tommy… I'm so sorry. I didn't intend for that to happen."

"I can't believe you. And I can't believe you guys kept this from me." He snarled.  
  
"Jason said that if you knew, you'd just dig yourself deeper into a hole that you wouldn't be able to get yourself out of." Lacey responded. "The way you've been leading Kim on with how much you so-called 'care for her', is making her believe that you two have a chance. But we both know that nothing could ruin your bond with Kat. You'll just end up breaking Kim's heart."

"I'm sorry is this you or Jason talking here?" Tommy asked. "And news flash Lacey… what the hell do you think happened just now! You said OUTLOUD that something happened between me and Kim right in front of Kat's face!" 

"I didn't mean for that to happen." Lacey replied.

"Where the hell is Jason." Tommy sneered, as he turned around to go find him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find that son of a bitch!" Tommy yelled out.

Lacey immediately ran after him. "What are you going to do?" She asked nervously.

"Give that bitch what's coming to him."  
  
"Tommy… don't do this."

"If that moron would have just backed off, none of this would have happened." He snapped.  
  
"Look I don't one hundred percent agree with Jason's point of view, but do you honestly believe that this is all Jason's fault? Come on Tommy, you know better than that!" Lacey exclaimed.

"That's not the point! The point is, he should have told me! I have the right to know when things like this happen."

"And there is no reason why you should bring violence into this!"

Tommy stopped and nodded at her. "You're right." He muttered.

  
Soon enough Jason walked around the corner, not knowing he was walking up to Lacey and Tommy at that moment.

"Jason." Lacey replied.

Jason quickly lifted his head, surprised to see the both of them standing before him. He looked at Tommy wondering if he had already been told of what happened.

"Did you tell him?" He quietly asked.

"Yeah she did." Tommy spoke up. "Why the hell did you keep this from me, man?"  
  
Jason didn't know what to say.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." Lacey said and quickly walked away.

Both Tommy and Jason remained standing in the hallway face to face, trying their best to keep back the anger they had towards one another.

"Kat knows now." Tommy replied, trying to break the awkwardness between them.

Jason quickly looked up at him, surprised to hear what Tommy had just said.

"Lacey was telling me what happened, and then she went into the details about what happened that night out in Rocky's driveway…"

"How did that turn out." He finally spoke.

"Kat ran off… obviously upset."

"Did you run after her?"

Tommy paused, then shook his head. "No."

"Tommy…" Jason sighed.

"I wanted to know the rest of what Lacey had to say!"

"You chose that over comforting your girlfriend, whom you knew was upset!" Jason exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how she's probably feeling right about now?"

"I can deal with her when I get home." Tommy replied.

"You see… this is exactly what I'm talking about, man! You've hurt her… and you don't even realize it. Tommy this mess is a lot more serious than you're taking it!"

Tommy didn't say a word.

"Dude… I didn't want you to know for a reason. And this is exactly why. You've hurt Kim… and now… you've hurt Kat. Don't you get it! You're now in that place I was trying to prevent you from heading to.

"You don't know how this feels Jason." Tommy muttered. "All these years I've tried getting over my feelings for this girl. And when Kat came into my life I thought I did. But having Kim back made me realize that I haven't. And after hearing all that has happened to her, and seeing her act the way she has… I don't know, I guess it's just basic instinct for me to be there for her."

"But you can't let that happen Tommy." Jason responded. "Not with a girl that's vulnerable like Kim is."

"It's not that simple."

Jason was without words. Everything that he feared for had now happened, and he just didn't know what to say. He had tried so hard, and yet he failed. It just made him so angry and frustrated that all of these preventable things just blew up in his face, despite his effort. Quickly he rubbed his face into his hand in frustration, letting out a loud growl, when suddenly he stopped. He looked up at Tommy, and at that moment he soon realized what he had to do now. They had to move on.

  
"Who cares." Jason simply muttered. 

"What?" Tommy replied.

"It's too late now! All that I didn't want to happen has happened!" He exclaimed. "All we can do now is wait."

Tommy took a moment and realized that he was right and agreed.


	18. Chapter 18 Fighting Back

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Warning. Once again, if you like Kat's character, you may not enjoy this chapter. I do portray her as a conniving bitch… or whatever so **DO NOT** read if you like her.

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Endless Roads

Chapter 18 - Fighting Back

Kat barged through her apartment door, with tears running down her cheeks and the heat of anger raging through her body. She slammed the door shut behind her, and threw her car keys onto her coffee table, then turned and headed towards the bedroom. The feeling of betrayal was absolutely painful for her to bear. While she walked, she combed her fingers through her hair in frustration and let out a loud growl. The one thing that she feared had come true, and she couldn't believe that Tommy had done this to her.

After a lot of thinking during the drive back home, she finally realized the reason why things between her and Tommy were going so well during the past few days. It was all a plan to distract her from what was really happening. Her suspicions were right when she thought that there was something going on with Tommy. He didn't usually go out as often as he did, and he for sure never came home late the way he had been. But now the question was, was he lying this whole time? And the sweet things that he had done for her the past few days, were they sincere?

She couldn't believe that she was fooled. And the worst part of it was that Tommy would never pull something of this sort, until now, until Kimberly came back into town. Her biggest fear. Just thinking about what could have went on between the two of them made her sick. 

Suddenly, she remembered what had happened between her and Kim earlier that night. She remembered the conversation that they had and the things that she said to her. Could it have been possible that the reactions on Kimberly's face were not a matter of jealousy, but a matter of betrayal? Was it possible that Kim felt betrayed by Tommy for showing her affection and then turning around and going back to Kat?

The more she thought about what happened back at Rocky's party, the more she was convinced that something did happen between her boyfriend and his ex. She recalled the awkwardness between herself and Kimberly. Could it be that she was the reason why Kim left dinner so quickly? Did she leave because of the obvious affection clearly displayed in front of her? Suddenly it became all clear. Tommy ran after Kim right when she got up and left the table. What was the reason for that? Because he knew he hurt her feelings, and he had to make her feel better. Yes… it was crystal clear.

Ever since Kat came to Angel Grove, she had always been jealous of the connection that Tommy and Kim had. It took her years to get between that connection, and just when things were finally going her way, Kimberly just had to return, only to ruin the one thing she had worked so hard for. 

No! She wasn't going to let that happen. Kim left years ago, leaving Tommy heartbroken and hurt. Kat was there for Tommy all those years to help him, while Kim was on the other side of the country falling in love with someone else. Who the hell did Kim think she was to just reappear again and steal Tommy away from her? No! She wasn't going to let that happen, not without a fight.

________________________________________

Another hour had passed by, and again Jason, Lacey and Tommy sat in the waiting room for more news. Not a single one of them would leave until they heard that Kim was going to be all right. 

As Tommy sat, a million thoughts rushed through his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about what Kat was up to at that moment and what she was feeling. He had the urge to run home and talk to her, convince her that she was upset over nothing; but then again, that would have been a lie. Even he couldn't believe that he had lied to the one he loved, and went as far as kissing someone else. It wasn't like him, and he knew it. 

On the other hand, that someone else was Kimberly. Not just some stranger he had just met, but a girl whom he had lots of history with, and of course feelings for that he just couldn't ignore. The agony from waiting for more news was overwhelming, he just wanted to run into the surgery room and see her, but of course he had to be patient. He then thought back to earlier that night when Kat called him to tell him the news about what happened. He recalled of how time stood still for that single moment, how his heart stopped from the shock of the news. It absolutely took him by surprise, as he was unable to believe that more horrible things could have happened to that girl. Soon thinking back to his highschool days, he remembered how he swore to make sure nothing ever happened to her, how he would protect her. Funny how as soon as she left him, her life took a dramatic turn. Getting addicted to drugs, getting abused by a boyfriend and getting involved in a deadly car crash… so many things had happened. Now to add her most recent to the list. Tommy gently shook his head in disappointment.

"What are you shaking your head at?" Lacey quietly replied.  


Tommy turned his head to look at her, noticing the pale color on her face.   
  
"You don't look so well." He muttered.

She gave out a little chuckle. "I guess… it's all this waiting. It's really making me nervous."

Tommy nodded.

"She's going to be okay though." Lacey said. "I know she is."

"You sound very sure of yourself."

"Why!" She quickly spat out. "You don't think she will?"

"I didn't say that, calm down." Tommy replied, uncomfortable with Lacey's tone of voice. 

"I'm sorry." She sighed. "I guess I'm a bit edgy as well."

"I think we all are." He answered, which was soon followed by minutes of silence.

Tommy looked over at Jason who sat across the room, looking out of the window, staring up at the dark sky. He noticed him gently tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair, while tapping his foot against the floor.

  
"So what are you going to say to Kat when you get home?" Lacey asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

Tommy paused. "I have no idea."  


"I am so sorry about blabbing that out in front of her." Lacey whispered. "I know I've said it before, but I feel really bad about it."  
  
"It's okay." Tommy muttered as he blankly stared across the room.

"Do you love her?"

"Who Kat?" 

"Kim."

Tommy took a moment before answering. "Is it possible… to be in love with two people at the same time?"

"I can see that happening." Lacey smiled.

"You guys…" Jason quickly interrupted as he got up from his seat.

All three looked up to see Doctor McCarthy walk into the room, and immediately the tension could be felt.

  
"How is she?" Jason quickly replied.

A smile slowly formed on Doctor McCarthy's face, which was soon followed by an assuring nod.  
  
"Well…" He began. "It's good news."

Instantly the nerve-racking feeling started to fade away.

"The scans came out positive. There were no signs of damage to any part of the brain… surgery went very well. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding, so all in all… it looks like she's going to be fine."

A gigantic smile appeared on all faces.

"When will we be able to see her?" Tommy asked.

"Well she's in recovery right now." Doctor McCarthy replied. "She's still unconscious… so I'd say we give her a couple hours of rest before we let any visitors see her." 

"Okay." Tommy nodded.

"In the mean time, why don't you guys head home. You've been here all night; it'd probably do you some good to get some rest. Come back in the morning."

  
"He's got a point you guys?" Lacey spoke up.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Tommy agreed.

_______________________________________________

"Kat?" Tommy quietly called out, gently closing his apartment door behind him. It was three o'clock in the morning, so he expected her to be asleep in bed, but to his surprise, she was sitting in the living room couch watching TV.

Soon as she noticed Tommy walking through the door, she quickly grabbed the remote, shut off the TV, and stood up looking at him.

"Hi… you're home." She replied, looking nervously.

"I thought you'd be in bed by now."

"I couldn't sleep." She muttered.

Tommy could feel a slight awkwardness between them.

  
"Look… about what Lacey said…"

"Never mind that." She quickly interrupted. "I forgive you."

Tommy paused in confusion. "What?" He replied.  
  
"I ran off because, yes, I was upset, but I know it's not your fault."

"Not my fault? What are you talking about?" Tommy asked.

Tommy looked at her, seeing a pair of soft and gentle eyes staring back at him. There was no sign of anger at all which caught him by surprise.

"Tommy… you know how I bumped into Kimberly just before she got hit?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Well…" Kat sighed. "She said some things to me that I think you should know about."

"What did she say to you?"

Kat took a moment before answering.

  
"Tommy, she's toying with you."

"What?"

"When I saw her, all I asked was how she was doing, and then all of a sudden she began this huge speech about how I don't deserve you, and that you belong to her and not me." Kat explained. "She's deliberately trying to break us up."

Tommy didn't know what to say to this. It couldn't have been true. Kim would never manipulate anyone, would she?

"Tommy, you should have heard all of the hurtful things she said. She said I was worthless, and that you and I don't belong together."

"Kat… I-I don't know what to say." 

"Say that you won't give into her manipulation. You see that's why I'm not mad at you Tommy, because I know now. I know the reason why you were with her, was because you were tricked into a scheme of hers. And I know that if we stick together, she won't win this."

Tommy just couldn't believe what he was hearing. This couldn't be true. He could have sworn that the times he spent with Kim were sincere. There was just no way Kim would do a thing like this.

  
"A-Are you sure?"

"What? You don't believe me?" Kat asked, with a look of shock on her face.

"I just don't see Kim doing something like this."

"Tommy who would you rather trust! Me! Or Kimberly whose been lying to all of us ever since she got here!" She exclaimed. 

"No, no… I believe you. It's just… I can't believe she would do something like this."

"Well she has. And I will not let her ruin us." Kat sternly replied. "Tommy promise me you won't leave me for her."

"I won't… I won't." Tommy assured her, as he gave her a hug to calm her down. A look of confusion appeared on his face, still unable to believe that such a thing was true. He didn't know whom to trust.


	19. Chapter 19 Waking Up

****

Endless Roads

Chapter 19 - Waking Up

  
Early the next morning, in a gloomy hospital room of Angel Grove Memorial, lay a fragile Kimberly on her bed. It was quiet, cold and dark as she lay there staring at the ceiling above her. It was only a few minutes earlier that she had finally opened her eyes and awaken from her long slumber. Squeezing her eyes shut from the pain of an intense headache, the question of where she was had come into mind. Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, noticing tubes connected from her body to machines that stood next to her. And with that, she soon realized where she was. Frightened that she had returned to a hospital again, she immediately made herself sit up only to feel an immense jolt of pain hit within her abdomen. She let out a loud groan and immediately lay herself back on the bed again. Looking down, she noticed her left leg had been tightly wrapped in a cast, as her eyes widened from shock from discovering that her leg had been broken. Her head felt swollen as if her brain was about to explode, and soon after, she collected enough strength to lift her arm up and guide her hand to the top of her head. Instead of expecting to feel the soft touch of her own hair, she felt bandages. Bandages were wrapped all around the upper portion of her skull, and it was at that very moment that she began to panic.

__

"Oh my god!" She began to think to herself. _"What the hell happened to me!" _she thought. As minutes past, she continued thinking to herself, trying to remember what exactly was the reason for lying in that hospital bed. But soon enough, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening in front of her. She brought her eyes up to see a nurse walk in with a clipboard in her hands. As soon as both of their eyes met, the nurse gave out a big smile. 

"Oh good!" she exclaimed. "You're awake."

Kim lay there staring at her, not able to find the strength to speak.

  
"Do you know where you are, Miss Hart?" The nurse slowly asked.

Kim desperately wanted to know what happened to her, so she tried with all her might to open her mouth and say something, but unfortunately she found it extremely hard to get a sound out. Figuring that she wouldn't be able to get a reaction out of her just yet, the nurse moved on and began to push buttons on the machines next to Kim's bed and quickly recorded things down on her clipboard. It took a few minutes after for Kim to gain enough energy to speak and as a result a soft "What happened?" came out.

The nurse quickly turned her head to see Kim's eyes desperately looking up at her.

"You don't remember what happened?" She asked again.

Kim slowly shook her head.

"Well, Miss Hart… y-you were hit a by a car just last night." The nurse said hesitantly. "You suffered a major fracture to your left leg, as well as your head, and you did undergo abdominal surgery… but doctors say that you'll be just fine." She assured her.

Kim turned her head away looking over at the opposite side of the room. After she heard the words 'hit by a car' she immediately remembered the night downtown with Kat. 

"I'm going to leave you now so you can rest a bit more, but if you need anything you can buzz me by pressing this button right here." The nurse replied, and placed the buzzer next to Kim's bed, where it could easily be reached.

With the nurse gone, Kim continued to remember back to that conversation with Kat. Everything prior to the hit was all a blur to Kim, but she distinctly remembered the painful words that came out of Katherine's mouth. Listening to Kat describe her feelings for Tommy, of how much in love they both were, was much more painful than she had expected it to be. Standing there, looking at her face to face, as she went on about how of an amazing guy Tommy was; it was enough to drive Kim insane. She knew all of that already, and she didn't need Kat telling her things she hadn't already known.

__

"I'm just really glad I have a guy like him in my life who really loves me." Kim remembered her saying. _"I'm sure Tommy is grateful he has me in his life as well. I swear, we're perfect for each other." _

It just made Kim feel absolutely sick to her stomach that Kat had the nerve to rub in a topic of that kind in her boyfriend's ex's face. But what bothered Kim the most was that even though what Kat said was pretty harsh, it couldn't have been closer to the truth. Kim had no right to be furious, because Tommy was Kat's. She was the one who was actually in a relationship with Tommy, Kim wasn't. And what her and Tommy did was absolutely wrong, and she knew that. 

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was her own fault. She was the one to blame for getting herself in this mess. If she had only listened to Jason, and not ignored all the warnings he had given her, maybe she wouldn't have been where she was in that exact moment. And obviously, she wouldn't have been in the emotional state that she was in when she left Rocky's house.

But no, she ignored Jason, allowing her feelings for Tommy to develop even more until it finally took its toll. Now she was lying in the hospital paying the consequences for allowing Kat's words get to her. Kim shut her eyes trying her best to remember what happened after she ran away from Kat, but was unsuccessful. The nurse said a car hit her, but Kim couldn't remember that at all. She just couldn't believe that Kat could make her that upset, making her not even notice where she was going or what even happened to her for that matter. However, she knew what the reason was for it. It was Tommy. And now that she was in the hospital again, she knew what she had to do. She had to get away from him, it was finally time for her to listen Jason. She had to get Tommy out of her system.

  
_____________________________________________________________

A couple hours later, Lacey and Jason arrived back at the hospital, anxious to hear how Kimberly was doing. Both of them found it extremely difficult to sleep that night, which explained the heavy bags under their eyes and their constant yawning, but of course Jason and Lacey would have gone to extreme lengths for their friend and staying up all night was nothing.

Lacey had a quick chat with one of the nurses and learned that Kim had finally woken up that morning, but was still a little groggy. It was great news to Lacey, who soon had a tremendous smile on her face, and began running over to Jason to tell the great news. In half an hour both would be able to see Kim and talk to her and find out what exactly happened to her. That's what Jason wanted to know the most. But was bringing up the subject too early? Was it a better idea to wait until she was better and one hundred percent recovered before making her remember the horrible night? Maybe it was a little selfish of Jason to actually consider asking her right away, but he just wanted to know. He wanted to know exactly what was her reason for disappearing.

Lacey paced back and fourth in anxiety, just wanting to talk to Kim and see for herself that she was fine. The past few days were very hard on her emotionally, and to finally see the end of her worrying made her feel relieved. Relieved that the worrying was over and most important of all, that Kim was ok.

Soon a nurse led both to the room that Kim was kept in. They weren't allowed to see her just yet, but both got the chance to look at her through the window. Lacey gasped from fright after seeing her first glimpse. Kim lay there motionless with bandages wrapped around her head, and a cast around her leg from what she was able to see. Just by looking at her, you knew that Kim had gone through a lot. Jason's heart broke after seeing the sight. It tore him apart just by knowing that what he was looking at was totally preventable.

"So what did the nurse exactly say?" Jason whispered to Lacey.

"She said that she woke up and said a couple of words, so that's a good sign."

"And what's going to happen to her? Is she going to stay here for a while." 

"It looks that way." Lacey nodded unable to take her eyes off her best friend. She could see Kim's chest slowly rising from inhaling, which was a good sign; Kim was breathing and obviously alive. 

"God, I just want to get in there and talk to her!" Jason intensely replied, banging his fist against the frame of the door.

"Just be patient… we'll see her soon." Lacey calmly muttered, putting her hand on Jason's shoulder.

_____________________________________________________________

While driving down the highways of Angel Grove, over to Angel Grove Memorial, Tommy sat anxiously in his car with his hands tightly gripped around his steering wheel. He decided to leave Kat behind after hearing what she had told him the night before. He figured that it would have been awkward for her to be there. However, noting the fact that she seemed to be pretty normal at the hospital before, it didn't make sense to him. But that didn't erase what Kat had said, and a part of him wanted to not believe it, but this came from Kat; a person he knew would never lie to him. Soon realizing and admitting to himself that Kat indeed would never lie, a huge surge of guilt rushed through him. Kat would never lie to him, and yet he went behind her back and took action to his feelings for Kimberly. He shook his head in disappointment, obviously disappointed with himself for what he had done. 

How could he betray Kat like he had? For the past few years he had spent with her, no other woman had the power to steal his affection, but yet Kim did. It certainly proved that Kim meant a great deal, but to cheat on Katherine? He just couldn't believe that Kim had that kind of power, even though it did seem reasonable. She played a huge role in his life, and even if they had become strangers over the years for not speaking to one another, seeing her again sure didn't feel that way. And discovering her vulnerability just made his feelings for her grow even stronger. Listening to how much of a hellhole her life had been, he wanted to help as much as he could, because obviously he wouldn't just sit back and watch others do it. However, Jason was right, his way in helping her was by cheating on his girlfriend, and he knew he had to stop. But how could he just suddenly stop caring for a person like Kim? It was like an addiction that you just couldn't lure yourself away from.  
  
Quickly Tommy shook his head, suddenly noticing that his thoughts had swung over to Kim's side, when they were supposed to be concentrated on Kat. He couldn't ignore Kat's words, because if they were true, Kim had a lot of explaining to do. It just boggled the mind that Kim would have such intentions, to purposely break a relationship up for her convenience. It just wasn't like her. To think that those days he had spent being with her, having heart felt conversations and taking her back to their spot at the pond, were just ways to support her plan of seducing him to forget about Kat… could that have been true? Tommy didn't know what to believe. He couldn't believe that Kat was telling the truth, and he couldn't believe that Kim had said those things. All he did know, was that he needed to get to that hospital, set the record straight and ask Kim herself if what he had heard was true. And deep down within he hoped that it wasn't.

_____________________________________________________________

Finally being able to visit Kim, Lacey slowly cracked opened the door to Kimberly's room with a vase filled with white orchids in her hands. As she entered, she could hear the faint sound of Kim's breath inhaling and exhaling, proving to her that she seemed just fine. Lacey's lips quivered as emotions began to pour through, her eyes suddenly turning moist as tears began to blur her vision. Kim lay there with her head turned to the side as she continued to sleep while Lacey placed the vase of flowers on the table next to Kim's bed. She didn't want to wake her up, but the sudden noise of her pulling a chair up next to the bed quickly startled Kim, immediately meeting her eyes with Lacey's.

Slowly a slight smile began to form soon realizing that a familiar face had made its presence. "Lacey." She whispered.

"Hey." Lacey answered back, forcing a giant grin on her face. "How you feeling?"

Kim gave out a quiet moan. "Sore." She muttered. "And my head hurts like a bitch." She chuckled, trying to bring in some humor to their conversation.

"Already with laughs I see." Lacey replied hesitantly.

"Yeah." Kim let out.

Lacey was without words. She just couldn't find anything to say, still a bit emotionally paralyzed after what had went down during the past few days. All she could do was sit there and stare at Kim's wounded face. There were dark reddish scars above Kim's left eyebrow, clearly treated with stitches as the wide, white strands of bandages wrapped around her head slightly covered them. Kim's left eye area was slightly swollen as well, not allowing Kim's left eye to fully open. However, despite all of Kim's injuries, seeing her looking up, making full eye contact, and completely alert just amazed her. Just last night, she thought of the worst, that Kim might have been dead, or had permanent brain damage or that by the end of all this Kim wouldn't recover one hundred percent. But Lacey was wrong, because there was Kim, speaking, making jokes, laughing… it was just too amazing for words.  


"Lacey don't feel bad." Kim spoke up, noticing the guilt clearly shown through her expressions.

Still more emotions came through, preventing Lacey from saying anything, with tears still pouring down her cheeks.  
  
"It wasn't your fault that this happened." Kim replied again, trying her best to stay strong. Seeing the sadness being expressed from her best friend was surely a tearjerker, but in this situation she just couldn't show that kind of emotion in front of her.

"I'm sorry." Lacey sniffed, quickly wiping the tears that fell upon her cheeks. "I'm just so happy that your okay, and the fact that you're actually talking to me right now… it's just…"

"What? You thought I was dead?" Kim sarcastically asked.

"Kim this isn't funny." Lacey muttered

"You're right… I'm sorry." Kim began to settle down. "I just don't want you to feel like any of this is your fault, because it's not."

"Kim… what happened?" Lacey finally asked.

Soon tears began to form in Kim's eyes, now realizing that this was her time to explain herself. Explain what she had been doing for the past few days and what had led her to this.

"I… I just…" She began. "I guess I just had to get away."

"Get away? Get away from what?"

"I don't know." Kim mumbled. "Everything. You, Jason… Tommy." She soon paused, thinking back to Rocky's party. She remembered all the emotions she felt, the frustration, the anger, the embarrassment… the jealousy. "When I last saw you guys, I guess my feelings just finally took its toll. From my frustration, to Jason and Tommy's arguing… I just felt like I had enough. I needed to get way from it."

  
"So you just felt like disappearing?" Lacey quickly snapped.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Lace!" Kim cried.

"We were so worried about you KIM!" Lacey snapped back again, this time not fighting back her tears. "We called the police, we went hours in search of you… God! I even thought you were dead!"

Kim said nothing. Clearly Lacey was upset about this whole thing, and there were no excuses for what happened. Kim simply laid back and listened to what she had to say. 

"Jason and I stayed up every night, hoping that you'd either call or walk through the door!" She continued on. "And then… and then we hear that you got hit a BY A CAR… you have no idea what we've been through!"

"I'm sure I don't." Kim painfully replied.

Lacey quickly calmed herself down, soon noticing the harshness that was coming out of her. She then slowly leaned over in her chair towards Kim and quietly asked, "So where were you?"

"A motel." She softly muttered. "I stayed there for two nights."

"Jesus, Kim." Lacey sneered in disgust after realizing that while her and Jason were back at the apartment thinking of the worst, Kim was simply sleeping in some motel room.

"I was just so lost Lacey." Kim replied. "I was so frustrated and confused… I felt like I was going insane. I just had to get away…"

"You didn't think at all about how we'd feel?"  
  
"I guess I was just too caught up with myself to actually realize that it would have such a huge impact on you guys… and I'm sorry for that. I really am."

Lacey paused. The sincerity in Kimberly's voice had hit her. Her yelling came out because of her deep concern for her friend, now it was time to hear what Kim had to say.

"Listen, I'm sorry I had to lash out like that." She replied. "It's just all this stress lately… but I'm just glad it's all over."

"I guess this was it." Kim continued to speak. "These past few hours since I woke up, all I have been doing was thinking… thinking about what exactly happened to me."

"And what exactly happened to you?"

"I finally cracked. My mind had been moving like a thousand miles per second, and just last night it got to me."

"Kim, do you remember what happened last night?" Lacey asked, anxious to know.

Kim thought back, envisioning Kat's face in her mind. And soon the hurtful words came back to her. "I bumped into Kat." She began to explain. "When you disappear hoping to get away from everyone, carelessly bumping into someone you know can shock you in ways you would never believe."

"What does Kat have anything to do with you getting hit though?"

"Her words." Kim began to cry.

"What do you mean?" Lacey asked with growing concern.

Kim's face scrunched up as the familiar pain she felt when she spoke to Kat hit her once again.  
  
"Kim, obviously you're upset about something. What did she say to you?"

"She began talking about Tommy." Kim sobbed. "I mean, the whole reason why I left was to get away from the thought of him, and yet she brings him up. All I remember is listening to her go on and on about how in love they are, how they belong with each other and that they're so lucky to be with each other. Hell! She even went as far to mention their sex life!"

"Oh my god." Lacey quietly muttered underneath her breath as Kim continued to explain.

"And all I remember feeling was this pain of frustration and jealousy. I just couldn't take it anymore! And so I ran off… I had to get away from that… and that's the last thing I can remember." Kim finally finished.

Lacey was in shock. Kim getting hit may have been an accident, but it had been driven. Kat's arrogant words about Tommy drove Kim up the wall, clearly setting her off to run away and not even pay attention to where she was going. Kat had something to do with this accident and she just couldn't believe it. A flame of rage within her had been brightly lit.

"I can't believe her." She replied, blankly staring over at the other side of room across from her.

"So I'm paying the consequences." Kim whispered, not noticing what Lacey had just said. "And I finally realize what I have to do."

"She was just sitting there outside in the waiting room last night, just sitting there, innocently." Lacey continued on. "Like nothing happened."

"Lacey! Are you listening to me?" Kim spoke up.

"What?" She blurted out.

"I said I finally realize what I have to do." Kim said again. "Tommy needs to be out of my life. I can't be near him."  
  
Lacey stared at her for a moment, a bit unsure as to what she was saying. "Totally and utterly out of your life?"

Kim nodded. "So if he's here… I don't want to see him."

_____________________________________________________________

Lacey slowly walked out of Kimberly's room, which immediately caught the eye of Jason, who was patiently waiting out in the hallway. He quickly got up from his seat and walked over to Lacey. The anxiety in his eyes was intense.

"How is she?" He automatically asked.

Lacey was still in a state of shock from learning about what Kat did that she didn't even notice that Jason was standing right there. She looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to find the words.

"I-is she okay?" Jason asked again, a bit frightened with Lacey's expression.

"She's fine." Lacey finally replied. "Despite the cast, the bandages and the cuts and bruises… she's completely fine." She assured him.

"So what did she tell you?" He asked.

Lacey took a moment to get herself together. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "I'll tell you two things, alright?" She replied. "One, don't lecture her, okay? She got enough of that from me. The best thing she needs now is some comforting words from her big brother okay?" She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "And two, Kat's a complete bitch!"

"What?" Jason replied, confused.  


Lacey took in a deep breath to control her frustration. "Listen to me… Kim's been emotionally distressed with things such as Tommy for the past week. And you remember how Kat said that she was there when the accident happened?"

"Right…"

"It turns out that Kat had a little conversation with Kim… about Tommy, saying things about their relationship which would clearly upset her in any case."

"Really?"

"Jason, don't you get it? This may have been an accident, but what Kat said to Kim obviously made her upset. So upset in fact, that her mind may have drifted off to another place, leaving her to not pay attention to where she was going or even know what was happening."

"So you're saying that this is Kat's fault?"

"I'm not saying that!" Lacey snapped back. "I'm just saying that Kat had something to do with this… and I'm not just going to ignore it."

"Okay… well can I just see her first?" Jason replied.

"Go ahead." Lacey nodded, and with that Jason darted over to the door and entered the room. Lacey turned around and decided to head to the cafeteria to get herself a drink. She needed a refreshment to calm herself down, because clearly she was outraged about what she had just learned; it drove her nuts. But before she could make it around the corner that led to the hallway of elevators, Tommy's face appeared right in front of her. The flame of rage bursted inside of her from the sight of him, and she couldn't keep her anger in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She quickly blurted out.

  
"Excuse me?" Tommy responded confusingly.

"You heard me." 

"Well… I just thought I'd come to visit Kimberly… I-is that a problem?" He asked, not sure as to why Lacey was asking him in the first place.

"Is Kat here?" She asked bitterly.

"Why?" Tommy answered, again very confused.

Lacey gave him a glare and gently shoved him at the shoulder. "You better pray to god that you're pretty little girlfriend doesn't get in my face, Tommy." She sneered. "'Cause if she does… that pretty little face, won't be after I'm done with her."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Tommy snapped, obviously offended from what he had just heard.

"I had an interesting talk with Kim just a while ago." Lacey began. "Let me tell you this… You may have been bothered that Kat learned about you guys last night, but I have this feeling that she clued in way before that."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying that Kat might have already had suspicions about you two BEFORE last night!" Lacey raised her voice. "Kim and Kat had a conversation before the accident, and apparently she just couldn't stop talking about YOU in front of her. And from what Kim had to say, it obviously upset her."

Tommy froze while hearing this, because now he was hearing the absolute opposite of what he learned last night. What the hell was going on?

  
"Now, the way that I see it, Kat's a decent girl. I wouldn't expect her to talk about personal pin points of her relationship, ESPECIALLY to her boyfriend's EX!" Lacey continued to explain. "Not unless she's actually that arrogant and just wanted to rub it into Kim's face, OR she knew there was something there that threatened her relationship with you."

Tommy didn't know what to say. He was absolutely lost, he didn't know what to think anymore, and different stories were hitting him left and right. He was in pure confusion. "D-did Kim tell you exactly what she said?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Kim mentioned that Kat was saying how the both of you belong together, that you guys were meant to be, or whatever. That you both are lucky to have one another." Lacey said. "Now it all sounds sweet as sugar to the ear, but what was her purpose for saying all those things to your ex Tommy? Explain that to me."

Tommy couldn't say a word. Those words were exact to what Kat recalled Kimberly telling her. So which one was the truth?

"Look… I have nothing against you Tommy, believe that." Lacey muttered. "And telling you this isn't easy. But Kim is so lost right now… and for her to feel better again, she believes getting away from those who leave her feeling frustrated or confused will help. So…" Lacey took a deep breath knowing that this would hurt Tommy a lot. "She's requested that you not see her. And I expect you to respect her decision." Lacey muttered then slowly headed to the elevator, leaving Tommy heart broken.


End file.
